Doctor Who: Watch the Series
by WinterGrace816
Summary: Winter is bored and has decided to kidnap four regenerations of the Doctor and his companions to watch Doctor Who, dragging her wife, the Physician, along for the ride.
1. Prologue

**A/N:**

 **Characters and the episode they come from:**

 **Rose: a little after Doomsday**

 **Mickey/Rickey: after Journey's end**

 **Nine: during aliens of London**

 **Jack: after the Last of the Time Lords**

 **Ten: during silence of the library**

 **Martha: after journey's end**

 **Donna: during silence of the library**

 **River: taken from the library server**

 **Eleven: during the Pandorica opens**

 **Amy/Amelia: after Vampires in Venice**

 **Rory: after vampires in Venice**

 **Clara: after robot of Sherwood**

 **Twelve: after robot of Sherwood**

 **Bill: after Thin Ice**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. The characters or the plot lines in the story. I'm only writing how I think the characters would react to the show. If I did own the show it would not be as amazing as it is now.**

"I'm bored!" Winter whined from her position on the pilot seat.

She and her wife the Doctor had been reading. Well, the Doctor had been reading, Winter had been admiring her beautiful wife. Her long reddish-brown hair, that was held up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face; her usual outfit, which looked particularly good to her that day, consisting of a purple pattern tee, a purple plaid collared shirt, a pair of jean shorts, and some purple converse; her gorgeous brown eyes; and her adorable button nose.

When she somehow ended up upside down with her feet dangling over the back of their seat. Her white-blue waist-length hair almost touching the floor; her black leather jacket riding up from the strange way she managed to get in that position, her light blue tank top was over half-way up her stomach, managing to show her belly-button; her jeans somehow going in the opposite directions, as if they were falling upwards; and her black tennis shoes almost falling off. All in all she looked kind of like a wreck. She flipped herself over as the Doctor started talking, starting to straighten her clothes.

The Doctor sighed and closed the book she was reading, "What do you want to do then?" Getting a familiar sparkle in her red-brown eyes she jumped up, asking, "Do you want to go on an adventure? Anywhere, any when, in all of time and space at our fingertips. Where do you want to go?"

When the Doctor started listing off places faster than Winter could keep up with, she gently cut her off with a quick kiss of the lips. "Not exactly what I had in mind, Love. We're always running around, that's why we decided to take this small break, remember?" When she nodded Winter continued, "I was thinking more along the lines of visiting some of your other selves and previous companions and forcing them to watch _Doctor Who_ with us. What do you think?"

The Doctor hesitated for a few moments, before Winter gave her best puppy dog eyes, ones that could make even the coldest of hearts warm, and caved. "Alright, but you have to explain it to the others. This was your idea after all," She smiled widely, "This is going to be fun."

Winter cheered. Then, she frowned. Then, she smacked herself in the face, exclaiming, "We need to come up with a nickname for you, since there will be four other Doctors there. They can go by their regeneration numbers, but you stopped counting a long time ago, so what do we call you, Love?" She tapped her head, as if to force the answer out, before exclaiming excitedly, "I've got it, how about the Physician?"

The Doctor smiled and said, "Yep, that'll work, as long as you still call me 'Love,' Darling." She jested with a smile.

"Of course, Love."


	2. Chapter One: Introductions

Doctor Who Chapter One

Time to get all of the companions and Doctors from New Who together to watch a television show about them! Now, dear reader, you may be asking how we get them all in the same place without causing a paradox. Simple, we teleport all of them to Winter's personal dimension, since it's a paradox-free zone, after all. A bright light filled the room as the unwilling humans and time lords started to fill the room. They were all pretty confused, until they heard a certain dimension jumper cackling.

"Hello! So nice to see you all!" Winter exclaimed, smiling madly. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I have brought you all here."

When they all started talking at once, she groaned and whistled loudly. They all covered their ears, wincing.

She smiled and said cheerily, "We will all be watching the TV show _Doctor Who_! Isn't that fun?" When none of them looked very happy, she frowned. "Well, you'll see when we get started." She grinned, "Now time for seating arrangements and introductions." With a snap of her fingers, they were all sitting on couches in a semi-circle. "Let's go in a circle, starting with you," She said pointing at Nine. "First, however, ground rules on introductions. If you're a companion, say which doctor you traveled with, and a brief statement of where you just came from. If you're one of the Doctors, say your regeneration number, since that will be your nickname, and where you just came from. Also, no interrupting. Go ahead." She nodded her head at Nine.

From the first couch with Rose and Ten, Nine groaned but grudgingly said, "I'm the Ninth regeneration of the Doctor. I was investigating the alien spaceship that crashed into Big Ben." He looked around the room, trying to find the other Doctors that Winter had mentioned. He was a little weirded out that there was a TV show about him, but he decided that he was going to give this whole thing a chance.

"My name is Rose Tyler. I traveled with the Ninth Doctor and am currently with Tenth. We were just in France and on a spaceship with Madame de Pompadour," Rose said, looking kind of awed to be with her first Doctor again. She also looked a little afraid of what this show would entail, but would endure anything to be with her Doctors again.

"'Ello, I'm the Doctor, the Tenth to be exact. I was just at the Library, the biggest one in the universe. How cool is that?" Ten started to ramble but stopped when Winter cleared her throat. He mimed zipping his lips, before craning neck to see the potential future hims.

"My name is Mickey Smith, I traveled with the Tenth Doctor, and I was just at home with my wife." Mickey smiled at the woman sitting next to him on the second couch.

"My name is Martha Jones, I traveled with the Tenth Doctor, and I was just at home with my husband, Mickey," Martha said, also smiling at her husband.

"Hey, the name's Captain Jack Harkness, I traveled with the Ninth Doctor, and I just came from _The_ _Valiant_ ," Jack said, sending a flirty wink Winter's way, shrugging when she gave him a strange look like she didn't understand what he was doing. She didn't, but that beside the point.

"My name's Donna Noble, I travel with matchstick man here," Donna said gesturing to the Tenth Doctor, "And I came from the same place as him." She and Jack were sitting together on the third couch.

"Hello, my name is River Song, I sort of traveled with the Eleventh, and I was just in the Library." River smirked from the fourth couch with the Doctor and the Ponds.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor, the Eleventh one, just so you know. I was dealing with the Pandorica, which was not fun at all," Eleven said grinning like the mad man with a box he was.

"Hiya, my name is Amy Pond, I travel with the bowtie-wearing dork over there, and I was just in Venice," Amy said smiling at her description of her Doctor.

"Hi, my name is Rory Williams, I travel with the 'bowtie-wearing dork,' and I was with Amy in Venice," Rory said hesitantly.

"Hello, my name is Clara Oswald. I traveled with the Eleventh Doctor and currently travel with the Twelfth. We just met Robin Hood," Clara said smirking at Twelve in triumph.

"I am the Twelfth Doctor. Yes, yes I know. I'm impossible, yet here I am. Do I have to say where I came from since I'm the oldest?" Twelve asked gruffly.

Winter shook her head no.

"Good."

"Anyway, Hi! My name is Bill, Bill Potts. I travel with Twelve, and I was just at a frost fair," Bill said with a bright smile. She was sitting with Twelve and Clara on the fifth couch.

"Now that you've all been introduced, I present you my Doctor, my wife, who will be called the Physician, since she stopped counting regenerations a while ago." Winter said gesturing to her beautiful wife. "Okay everyone, get comfortable, because we are about to start the _Doctor Who_ marathon." She and the Physician plopping down on some pillows on the floor in the center of the room, getting comfortable. "This is going to be fun."


	3. Chapter Two: Rose

"This is the first episode of season one of the reboot of _Doctor Who_ called fondly by the fandom New Who!" Winter said, gesturing emphatically towards the large movie theater-esque screen. "If you want to comment, you can. The show will pause until everyone is paying attention again. Now time for the show!" Winter exclaimed, curling up with her wife.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(Earth, United Kingdom, South London. An alarm clock goes off at 7:30. A Rose gets up, bed-head on full display.)

"Nice bed head, Rosie," Jack smirked, laughing as he dodged the fluffy projectile said woman threw at him. He hugged the pillow to his chest mockingly, making a face like a teenage girl at a sleepover.

"Shut up, Jack," Rose said, rolling her eyes affectionately at the con-man.

(Rose gets dressed and kisses her mother Jackie goodbye. Jackie is still in her dressing gown and lazing on the settee while watching TV.)

ROSE: Bye!

JACKIE: See you later!

 **[Henrik's Department Store]**

(Rose takes the bus to Central London and gets off outside the department store. There is a banner across the main entrance - Henrik's sale.

(The day passes. Rose moves piles of display clothes around the ladies wear section, meets Mickey for a snack lunch in Trafalgar Square then goes back to work. Eventually -)

TANNOY: This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you.

(Rose and the other girls head for the main doors. The guard shakes a clear plastic bag in front of Rose.)

GUARD: Oi!

"How rude!" Donna scowled at the guard.

(Rose takes the bag and runs back to a lift and goes down to the basement.)

ROSE: Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson, are you there?

(A door with a large danger of electric shock sign also claims to be the office of H P Wilson, CEO.)

ROSE: I can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop. Wilson! Oh, come on.

(There is a clattering noise further down the corridor.)

ROSE: Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? Wilson?

(She opens the door to a store room and turns on the lights. There are boxes of clothes, and dressed dummies.)

ROSE: Wilson? Wilson!

"Humans," Nine said shaking his head with a sigh, "always sticking their heads into places they don't belong."

"Oh, come on, you know we love it." Ten smirks at his past self, grinning manically.

"It is always fun to see human ingenuity in action," Eleven agreed with his last incarnation.

"Unless, of course, they're not thinking. Then, humans are just stupid pudding brains," Twelve scowls at the thought of the dreaded pudding-brained humans.

"Ah, but that just makes the ones who think much more special and amazing," the Physician said, smiling at the gathered companions, who were all flattered and voiced their gratitude.

(As she explores, the door slams behind her. Rose runs back but it won't open.)

ROSE: You're kidding me.

(More noises behind her.)

ROSE: Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?

(A male shop dummy turns to watch her, then approaches.)

ROSE: Yeah, you got me. Very funny.

(A second one starts moving behind it, then a third.)

ROSE: Right, I've got the joke. Whose idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?

"Ooh, I want to meet this Derek if you think he would be able to do a prank like this!" Jack smirked at the thought of all the trouble they could get into.

Mickey and Rose looked at each other in horror at the thought of the two troublemakers getting together. It would be absolute chaos, so they silently made a pact to never let Captain Jack Harkness and Derek meet.

(More shop dummies start moving as Rose keeps backing away down the storage area.)

Everyone who wasn't in the shop basement on the screen was on the edge of their seats, somehow forgetting that Rose was fine and right there with them.

(Finally they have her up against the wall, and the lead dummy raises its arm. Then a hand grabs Rose's wrist.)

DOCTOR: Run.

They all sagged in relief at seeing Nine come into the equation.

(He drags Rose through the basement as the Autons follow, and into a lift. The lead Auton puts its arm through the closing doors. After several tugs, the Doctor pulls it off, and the doors close.)

 **[Service lift]**

ROSE: You pulled his arm off.

DOCTOR: Yep. Plastic.

ROSE: Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?

DOCTOR: Why would they be students?

ROSE: I don't know.

DOCTOR: Well, you said it. Why students?

ROSE: 'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students.

"Very clever. Wrong, but very clever," River said grinning at the earliest companion they had with them.

Rose blushed at the praise, not expecting it from far more experienced-looking companion.

DOCTOR: That makes sense. Well done.

ROSE: Thanks.

DOCTOR: They're not students.

ROSE: Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police.

DOCTOR: Who's Wilson?

ROSE: Chief electrician.

DOCTOR: Wilson's dead.

"Ow!"

They heard a cry of pain from Twelve. They all looked over to see Clara had slapped him on the back of the head and was berating him for being rude and insensitive to Rose.

"That was Nine, not me," Twelve grumbled once Clara was done.

"Oh, don't act like you would be any better." Clara scolded Twelve with a fond smile and an eye roll.

 **[Behind Hendrik's]**

ROSE: That's just not funny. That's sick!

DOCTOR: Hold on. Mind your eyes.

ROSE: I've had enough of this now.

(The Doctor disables the lift mechanism with his sonic screwdriver.)

ROSE: Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?

DOCTOR: They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this. (Shows a small bomb) So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed.

(He shuts the door behind him, then opens it again.)

DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?

ROSE: Rose.

DOCTOR: Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!

 **[Street]**

(Rose makes her way to the main road, nervous of the dummies in the shop window. She runs across the road, nearly becoming a hood ornament for a black cab.)

"Be careful!" they all screamed at the TV.

"Jeopardy friendly, you are," Nine and Ten said at the same time. Ten said it with a fond smile and Nine said it in an exasperated tone.

Rose once again blushed, only this time it was from embarrassment.

TAXI DRIVER: Watch it!

(Boom! A huge fireball takes out the upper floor of Hendrik's. Rose runs straight past an out of date police telephone box parked just in the alley between two other stores.)

They all gave each other a knowing smile.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(BBC News 24 keeps everyone informed at 20.45.)

TELEVISION: The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate

(Jackie is on the telephone and Rose is slumped on the settee.)

JACKIE: I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter. Oh, and here's himself.

"Only your mother," Ten said with a fond smile.

Nine was horrified to say the least. How in the world could he, the Doctor, miss Jackie Tyler. He just didn't get it.

(Mickey enters.)

MICKEY: I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!

ROSE: I'm all right, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss.

MICKEY: Well, what happened?

ROSE: I don't know!

MICKEY: What was it though? What caused it?

ROSE: I wasn't in the shop. I was outside. I didn't see anything.

"Liar, liar," Jack wagged his finger at Rose in a scolding manner. Once again having to dodge the feathered missile thrown at him by said liar.

"Shut up, Jack," Rose playfully sneered at the criminal.

JACKIE: It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview.

"Your mum and my mum would be good friends," Donna said absently.

ROSE: Oh that's brilliant! Give it here.

(Rose takes the phone from Jackie and ends the call.)

That got a laugh from everyone.

JACKIE: Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out.

(The telephone rings again. Jackie answers it.)

JACKIE: Bev! She's alive. I've told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death.

MICKEY: What're you drinking, tea? Nah, nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger.

ROSE: I'm all right.

MICKEY: Now, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?

"Is there a match on?" Martha asked knowingly.

Rose stifled a laugh. "He still does that?"

"Yep," Martha said smirking.

ROSE: Is there a match on?

MICKEY: No, I'm just thinking about you, babe.

ROSE: There's a match on, ain't there.

MICKEY: That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes.

"Ha!" Both Rose and Martha laughed at the admission, while Mickey grumbled about how unfair it was for them to team up on them.

ROSE: Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that.

(Rose has brought the Auton's arm home. They kiss, then Mickey picks up the arm.)

"You brought that with you?" Amy asked incredulously.

"I was distracted," Rose said, devoid of an explanation.

MICKEY: Bye, bye.

ROSE: Bye.

(Mickey pretends to be strangled by the arm, then leaves.)

"That's why you didn't believe me?" Nine asked Rose incredulously. At her nod, he scowled and said, "Well, thanks a lot for that Rickey!"

TELEVISION: Fire then spread throughout the store. Fifteen fire crews are in attendance though it's thought there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure.

(Whistling, Mickey throws the arm into a rubbish bin, while somewhere nearby a couple are having a blazing row.)

 **[Rose's bedroom]**

(Next morning, Rose's alarm goes off at 7:30 as usual.)

Before Jack can even open his mouth to comment on what he would call "her wondrous bedhead," a pillow is thrown at him.

JACKIE [OC]: There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

JACKIE: There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs.

ROSE: Oh, great. The butchers. 

JACKIE: Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim.

"Oh, yeah they would be best friends," Donna said smirking.

(Something rattles at the door.)

ROSE: Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays.

JACKIE: I did it weeks back!

ROSE: No, you thought about it.

(The screws for the cat flap are on the floor.)

Once again, the group got nervous, forgetting that Rose was with them, perfectly fine.

(Then the flap moves. Rose opens it. It's the Doctor trying to look through. She opens the door.)

They all sighed in relief.

DOCTOR: What're you doing here?

ROSE: I live here.

DOCTOR: Well, what do you do that for?

ROSE: Because I do. I'm only at home because someone blew up my job.

DOCTOR: I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you? No, bonehead. Bye, then.

Clara once again slapped Twelve on the back of the head, while he grumbled about how unfair it is.

ROSE: You. Inside. Right now.

(Rose pulls the Doctor into the flat.)

JACKIE [OC]: Who is it?

 **[Jackie's bedroom]**

(Jackie is in her bedroom putting on her makeup.)

ROSE: It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes.

JACKIE: She deserves compensation.

(The Doctor is in the open doorway.)

DOCTOR: Oh, we're talking millions.

JACKIE: I'm in my dressing gown.

"Oh, no."

DOCTOR: Yes, you are.

JACKIE: There's a strange man in my bedroom.

"Oh, no. No!"

DOCTOR: Yes, there is.

JACKIE: Well, anything could happen.

DOCTOR: No.

All the companions except for Rose laughed at the Doctor's misfortune, while the Doctors and Rose blushed in embarrassment at Jackie's blatant flirtimg.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?

DOCTOR: Might as well, thanks. Just milk.

ROSE: We should go to the police. Seriously. Both of us.

(The Doctor looks at the copy of _Heat_ on the coffee table.)

DOCTOR: That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien.

"Who?" They all looked at their respective Doctors questioningly.

None of the Doctors answered, but they looked quite nervous about the whole thing.

ROSE: I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong.

(The Doctor flicks through a paperback.)

DOCTOR: Hmm. Sad ending.

ROSE: They said on the news they'd found a body.

DOCTOR: Rose Tyler.

(The Doctor sees his reflection in a mirror.)

DOCTOR: Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears.

Rose turned to Nine and asked, "Is that the first time you're seeing yourself in this regeneration?"

"Yep," Nine grinned, popping the _p_.

ROSE: All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke.

(The Doctor tries to shuffle a pack of cards.)

DOCTOR: Luck be a lady.

ROSE: Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying.

(The pack of cards goes flying.)

ROSE: I want you to explain everything.

DOCTOR: Maybe not.

(The cat flap rattles.)

DOCTOR: What's that, then? You got a cat?

ROSE: No.

(The Auton arm grabs the Doctor by the throat)

ROSE: We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate.

"How did you not notice he was being chocked?" Amy asked, raising her eyebrow at the previous companion.

"It had been a long two days," Rose sighed.

(Rose comes in from the kitchen area with two mugs of instant coffee. The Doctor is still being strangled, but she takes no notice.)

ROSE: I told Mickey to chuck that out. You're all the same. Give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor, what was it?

(The Doctor manages to throw the arm off. It stops in midair and grabs Rose's face instead. The Doctor pulls at it, pulling Rose down on top of him as they fall onto the coffee table and smash it. Jackie is using her hairdryer and hears nothing. The Doctor finally gets it off Rose with his sonic screwdriver, then jabs the device into its palm. The fingers stop flexing.)

DOCTOR: It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless.

ROSE: Do you think?

(Rose hits him with it.)

DOCTOR: Ow!

"I always love that part," Winter smiled, barely containing her giggles.

"What, me getting hit with a plastic arm?" The Physician asked, playfully raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," Winter smirked evilly.

The Physician rolled her eyes and slapped her wife on the arm, causing Winter to give her a look of complete and utter betrayal. The brunette sighed, giving in and kissing her as an apology. The white-bluenette grinned and turned back to the TV.

 **[Staircase]**

ROSE: Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off.

DOCTOR: Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you.

ROSE: But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me.

DOCTOR: Ten out of ten for observation.

ROSE: You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on.

DOCTOR: No, I don't.

 **[Outside the block of flats]**

ROSE: All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking.

DOCTOR: Is that supposed to sound tough?

ROSE: Sort of.

DOCTOR: Doesn't work.

ROSE: Who are you?

DOCTOR: Told you. The Doctor.

ROSE: Yeah, but Doctor what?

All of the companions spoke in unison, "Just the Doctor."

DOCTOR: Just the Doctor.

ROSE: The Doctor.

All of the Doctors did a little wave and said, "Hello!"

DOCTOR: Hello!

ROSE: Is that supposed to sound impressive?

DOCTOR: Sort of.

"Doesn't work!" Winter giggled, playfully head-butting her wife, who rolled her eyes at the gesture.

ROSE: Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?

"Nope."

DOCTOR: No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home.

ROSE: But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after me?

DOCTOR: Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all.

ROSE: It tried to kill me.

DOCTOR: It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me.

ROSE: So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you.

DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah.

ROSE: You're full of it.

DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah.

ROSE: But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?

DOCTOR: No one.

ROSE: What, you're on your own?

"Never!" Winter and the companion said as they hugged their respective Doctors. Winter was especially adamant about it because her Doctor was her wife, and Winter would never let the Physician be alone.

DOCTOR: Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on.

ROSE: Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?

DOCTOR: The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead.

ROSE: So that's radio control?

"Thought control, but smart guess. I don't often say this, but I'm impressed," River said, grinning. Companions must stick together, after all.

DOCTOR: Thought control. Are you all right?

ROSE: Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?

DOCTOR: Long story.

ROSE: But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?

Everyone chuckled at the picture that had created in their mind's eye. Who in their right mind would try to take over Britain's shops?

DOCTOR: No.

ROSE: No.

DOCTOR: It's not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?

"Well, that got serious real fast," Jack said smirking at the chemistry between the two even this far back.

ROSE: No.

DOCTOR: But you're still listening.

ROSE: Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?

DOCTOR: Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like its standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home.

"Did you really expect me to just forget about all of that?" Rose asked Nine incredulously.

"I was hoping," Nine sighed.

(The Doctor walks off towards the Tardis with the arm. Rose walks off towards another block of flats when there is a rush of air and a strange noise. She turns and runs back, and the Tardis has gone.)

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: Hey, hey, here's my woman. Kit off!

ROSE: Shut up.

(They kiss.)

Martha shifted uncomfortably at seeing her husband kiss another woman. Mickey noticed and kissed her on the side of the head, as if to remind her that he chose her.

MICKEY: Coffee?

ROSE: Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?

MICKEY: Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom. Don't read my emails!

"Ooh, what's on these emails?" Jack smirked.

"None of your business, Captain Cheesecake," Mickey responded playfully.

"Hey, it's Beefcake to you," Jack retorted.

(Rose uses to hunt for Doctor, 17,700,000 results.)

"You can't find me on the Internet," Nine said in a condescending manner.

"Well . . . ," Ten dragged out the word as the show kept going.

(Doctor Living Plastic 55,300 results. Doctor Blue Box 493 results. The top one says - Doctor Who? ...Do you know this man? Contact Clive here. She clicks on the site and there is a fuzzy picture of the Doctor.)

"What? We hafta fix this! Right now!" Nine exclaimed, somehow looking furious and worried at the same time.

"We did. After the adventure you just came from, I believe." Ten said, reminiscing of his time as Nine.

 **[Clive's street]**

(Mickey drives Rose there in his yellow VW beetle.)

ROSE: You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids.

MICKEY: Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an Internet lunatic murderer would say.

(One of Clive's neighbors puts out his black wheelie bin and gives Mickey a nasty look. Rose knocks on a door across the street. A boy opens it.)

ROSE: Hello, I've come to see Clive? We've been emailing.

BOY: Dad! It's one of your nutters!

(A couch potato comes to the door.)

CLIVE: Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose. I'm Clive, obviously.

ROSE: I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me.

CLIVE: No, good point. No murders.

(Clive waves at Mickey.)

CAROLINE [OC]: Who is it?

CLIVE: Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website. Please, come through. I'm in the shed.

CAROLINE: She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?

"What does that say about you, Doc?" Jack smirked, even as four pillows flew into his face.

 **[Clive's shed]**

CLIVE: A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?

ROSE: Yeah.

CLIVE: I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original

(The original is a picture of Kennedy's cortege going through Dallas. The Doctor is just one face in the crowd.)

CLIVE: November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?

ROSE: It must be his father.

"Nope, just good old me," Nine said grinning.

CLIVE: Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are. 1883. Another Doctor. (A sketch) And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion.

All the companions smiled at the thought of their title.

ROSE: Who's that?

CLIVE: Death.

Their smiles immediately fell. The real companions turned to their respective Doctors and started listing all of the reasons that Death wasn't his constant companion.

"Yeah, I mean, I've meet Death and she was never your companion," Winter said, as if that was obvious.

The others looked at her strangely, but the Physician just shook her head fondly, kissing Winter on the temple.

(Out in the street, the wheelie bin moves closer to Mickey's car.)

CLIVE: If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger.

 **[Clive's Street]**

(Mickey watches the bin move and gets out of his car. He goes to the bin and lifts up the lid.)

MICKEY: Come on, then.

 **[Clive's shed]**

CLIVE: If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you.

(Mickey shuts the bin lid and finds he is stuck to the plastic. It stretches as he pulls at it, then the bin growls, flexes, snaps and finally whips Mickey inside itself. _Burp._ )

They all winced, except for Winter, who giggled, only stopping when the Physician whacked her on the back of the head.

ROSE: But who is he? Who do you think he is?

CLIVE: I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world.

"He actually came the closest to getting it right," Eleven smiled.

 **[Clive's street]**

(Rose returns to the car. Mickey is sitting behind the steering wheel.)

ROSE: All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win! What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza.

(But this Mickey is obviously plastic.)

MICKEY: Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!

ROSE: Or Chinese.

MICKEY: Pizza!

(Plastic Mickey weaves off down the road.)

"How did you not notice?" Amy asked with a teasing look.

"I'm only going to say this once, long two days," Rose sighed wearily.

 **[Pizza restaurant]**

(Rose is still oblivious to the fact that Mickey has shiny skin and a fixed grin on his face.)

ROSE: Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips? I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up. What do you think?

MICKEY: So, where did you meet this Doctor?

ROSE: I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?

"Self-centered much?" Three guesses as to who said that and subsequently got hit in the face with a pillow. He really was amassing a pile of fluffy pillows.

MICKEY: Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?

ROSE: No.

MICKEY: Come on.

ROSE: Sort of.

MICKEY: What was he doing there?

ROSE: I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous.

"You thought I was dangerous?" Ten asked sadly.

"I did, but not anymore. Not once I got to know you," Rose said soothingly.

MICKEY: But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, (deep) sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart.

ROSE: What're you doing that for?

WAITER: Your champagne.

MICKEY: We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?

WAITER: Madam, your champagne.

ROSE: It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?

MICKEY: I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?

WAITER: Doesn't anybody want this champagne?

MICKEY: Look, we didn't order it.

(Plastic Mickey finally looks up to see that the waiter is the Doctor.)

MICKEY: Ah. Gotcha.

(The Doctor starts shaking the bottle vigorously.)

DOCTOR: Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!

(The Doctor releases the cage around the cork and it flies into Plastic Mickey's forehead. After a few moments, he spits it out.)

MICKEY: Anyway.

(Plastic Mickey gets up and turns his hand into a chopper. Rose flees, screaming, as Mickey wrecks the table. The Doctor grabs the Auton and pull off its head. The rest of the customers scream.)

"That's not creepy at all." Amy said with a grimace.

MICKEY: Don't think that's going to stop me.

(The body gets up and starts flailing around. Rose sets off the fire alarm.)

ROSE: Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!

"Smart," River, once again, complimented.

(Rose and the Doctor run through the kitchens carrying the head, while the body wrecks the restaurant before following them to the back exit.)

 **[Outside the restaurant]**

(The Doctor seals the exit shut while Rose runs down the alley, past the Tardis. The end is secured by padlocked gates.)

ROSE: Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!

All of the Doctors gasped at the slight of their precious sonic screwdrivers.

DOCTOR: Sonic screwdriver.

ROSE: Use it!

DOCTOR: Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here.

(The Doctor unlocks the Tardis and goes inside while the Auton hammers on the metal door, making large dents.)

ROSE: You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor!

The Doctors gasped, once again, at what the companion had called their precious Tardis.

(Rose tries the gate again then runs inside the Tardis. She stops, takes one look and runs outside again. A siren is wailing in the distance. She runs around the Tardis then when the Auton finally smashes through the metal door, she makes up her mind.)

Everyone except Rose, who looked quite embarrassed, burst into laughter at the blonde companion's reaction to the bigger-on-the-inside spaceship.

 **[Tardis]**

ROSE: It's going to follow us!

DOCTOR: The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute. You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?

ROSE: Err, the inside's bigger than the outside?

"Every time," the Doctors said fondly.

DOCTOR: Yes.

ROSE: It's alien.

DOCTOR: Yeah.

ROSE: Are you alien?

DOCTOR: Yes. Is that all right?

ROSE: Yeah.

DOCTOR: It's called the Tardis, this thing. T. A. R. D. I. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space.

(Rose bursts into tears.)

DOCTOR: That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us.

ROSE: Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?

DOCTOR: Oh. I didn't think of that.

"Ow!"

ROSE: He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?

DOCTOR: Melt?

(The plastic head is melting on the console, where it is attached by cables.)

DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, no, no, no!

(The Doctor sets the Tardis in motion.)

ROSE: What're you doing?

DOCTOR: Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!

(The Tardis lands and the Doctor runs for the door.)

ROSE: You can't go out there. It's not safe.

 **[Westminster]**

(Nighttime on the north back of the Thames next to the RAF monument.)

DOCTOR: I lost the signal, I got so close.

ROSE: We've moved. Does it fly?

DOCTOR: Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand.

"I think if she kept up so far, she can handle the dematerialization and materialization circuits of the Tardis." River said, indignantly.

ROSE: If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose.

DOCTOR: It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?

"Ow!"

ROSE: I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien.

DOCTOR: Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey

ROSE: Yeah, he's not a kid.

DOCTOR: It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?

ROSE: All right.

DOCTOR: Yes, it is!

"Ow!"

ROSE: If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?

DOCTOR: Lots of planets have a north.

ROSE: What's a police public call box?

DOCTOR: It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise.

ROSE: Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?

DOCTOR: Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!

ROSE: Any way of stopping it?

(The Doctor holds up a tube of blue liquid.)

DOCTOR: Anti-plastic.

ROSE: Anti-plastic.

DOCTOR: Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?

ROSE: Hold on. Hide what?

DOCTOR: The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal.

ROSE: What's it look like?

DOCTOR: Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London.

DOCTOR: A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible. What? What?

(The Doctor turns and looks at what Rose is staring at on the south bank but the penny doesn't drop.)

"Oblivious much." Jack smirked, only to get another pillow for his pillow for his fluffy army.

DOCTOR: What? What is it? What?  
(He finally catches on to what Rose is looking at the London Eye.)

DOCTOR: Oh. Fantastic!

 **[South bank]**

(The Doctor and Rose run hand in hand across Westminster Bridge.)

DOCTOR: Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables

ROSE: The breast implants.

Jack opened his mouth to speak and was immediately gifted with another barrage of pillows for his feathery army.

DOCTOR: Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath.

ROSE: What about down here?

(Rose looks over the parapet and sees a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.)

DOCTOR: Looks good to me.

(They run down and the Doctor opens up the hatch. There is red light inside.)

 **[Nestene chamber]**

(They climb down a short ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. From there they go through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber.)

DOCTOR: The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.

ROSE: Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go.

DOCTOR: I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance.  
(He goes down to a catwalk overlooking the seething vat.)

The companions smiled at how like the Doctor that was. He always had to give his enemies a choice.

DOCTOR: I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.

DOCTOR: Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?

(Rose spots someone on a lower level and runs down.)

ROSE: Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right.

MICKEY: That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!

ROSE: You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive.

DOCTOR: Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy.

ROSE: You knew that and you never said?

DOCTOR: Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?

"Ow!"

(The Doctor continues downwards.)

DOCTOR: Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?

"Nice pun," Winter smiled.

(A sort of face forms in the vat of plastic.)

DOCTOR: Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go.

ROSE: Doctor!

(A pair of shop dummies grab the Doctor. One takes the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket.)

DOCTOR: That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?

(A door slides back to reveal the Tardis.)

DOCTOR: No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!

ROSE: What's it doing?!

DOCTOR: It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!

(As the plastic in the vat keeps roaring, Rose phones her mother.)

ROSE: Mum?

 **[Outside a police station]**

JACKIE: Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me.

 **[Nestene chamber]**

ROSE: Where are you, mum?

 **[Outside Queens Arcade]**

JACKIE: I'm in town.

 **[Nestene chamber]**

ROSE: No, go home! Just go home right now!

 **[Outside Queens Arcade]**

JACKIE: Darling, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Ta-ra!

 **[Nestene chamber]**

ROSE: Mum! Mum!

(Jackie goes into Queens Arcade, which contains the Underground station entrance.)

(The Consciousness starts throwing energy bolts around.)

DOCTOR: It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!

(The Eye lights up with energy.)

ROSE: It's the end of the world.

"Over-dramatic much? Oomph."

 **[Queens Arcade]**

CLIVE: There's no point creating a spreadsheet if you're going to spend summer money in winter months.

(A shop dummy moves.)

CAROLINE: Oh, my God! I thought they were dummies. I nearly had a heart-attack.

(Everyone stops to watch the show in all the store windows until one dummy smashes the glass and comes out. Jackie is coming down the escalator.)

CLIVE: It's true. Everything I read, all the stories. It's all true.

(An Auton's fingers drop and it shoots Clive.)

"No! Clive!" Rose looked horrified at what had happened.

Nine glared at the back of Winter's head, angry that she had made them watch Clive's death, only stopping when he noticed the Physician glaring at him. She was not going to let him blame her wife for something that Winter couldn't have stopped. Especially since Winter was already beating herself up about not being able to save the man.

 **[Nestene chamber]**

(The plastic in the vat is getting extremely agitated.)

DOCTOR: Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!

ROSE: The stairs have gone.

(The Autons try to push the Doctor into the vat. Rose and Mickey run to the Tardis.)

ROSE: I haven't got the key!

MICKEY: We're going to die!

(Rose looks around for other possibilities.)

(Back at the shopping centre, Autons start coming down the escalator, shooting at anyone. Jackie finally screams, throws away her plastic bag and runs. But outside the Arcade is just as dangerous. The Autons shoot a passing taxi driver. She hides behind the crashed vehicle, then three brides smash their way out of the shop behind her.)

DOCTOR: No!

NESTENE: Time Lord.

(Rose stands up and looks at the Doctor, then runs round the chamber.)

MICKEY: Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!

"Thanks a lot, Rickey!" Nine scowls.

ROSE: I've got no A Levels, no job, no future.

(She grabs an axe as the three brides prepare to shoot Jackie.)

ROSE: But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!

(Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The golden Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.)

"Nice job," River praised Rose.

DOCTOR: Rose!

(The Doctor grabs her as she swings back.)

DOCTOR: Now we're in trouble.

(Explosions start and the signals from the Eye stop. The shop dummies start to stagger then fall over. The Doctor and Rose run to the Tardis, where Mickey is holding on for dear life, and they all go inside. The Tardis dematerializes.)

"Ah, just a normal Tuesday in the Tardis," Winter said, smiling at her wife.

 **[Outside Queens Arcade]**

(The Tardis materializes on the Embankment by a row of shuttered kiosks and Mickey runs out, terrified. Jackie answers her mobile phone.)

JACKIE: Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house.

 **[Embankment]**

JACKIE [OC]: It's not safe. There were these things, and they were shooting! And they-

 **[Outside Queens Arcade]**

JACKIE: Hello? Hello?

"Why doesn't she get hit for being rude and hanging up on her mother?" Twelve asked, only to be hit in the head once again by Clara.

 **[Embankment]**

(Rose goes over to Mickey, who is trying to hide behind a pallet. The Doctor stays in the doorway of the Tardis.)

ROSE: A fat lot of good you were.

DOCTOR: Nestene Consciousness? Easy.

ROSE: You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me.

DOCTOR: Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, err, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge.

MICKEY: Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing.

"Thanks a lot, Rickey!" Nine said scowling.

Ten and Eleven looked at him, hurt he would call their past self a thing.

"Sorry, Boss," Mickey apologized to the man he traveled through space and time with.

DOCTOR: He's not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere.

ROSE: Is it always this dangerous?

DOCTOR: Yeah.

ROSE: Yeah, I can't. I've err, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so.

DOCTOR: Okay. See you around.

(The Tardis dematerializes.)

"You turned him down?" Amy asked with a confused frown. "But you traveled with him. You wouldn't be here if you didn't."

"Wait for it," Ten held up a finger.

ROSE: Come on, let's go. Come on. Come on.

(The Tardis materializes.)

"There we are," Ten smiled. "I went back for her."

Amy turned to Eleven and started hitting him repeatedly on the arm. "You went back for her immediately! How long did it take you to come back for me?" Amy asked rhetorically. "Twelve years! Then, you left for another two years, so it took you fourteen years to come back for me."

"I'm sorry." Eleven tried to placate, but it didn't work as Amy just continued to hit him in the arm.

"I think he gets the point," Winter said, smirking.

"Fine," Amy groaned, finally as she finally stopped hitting Eleven.

DOCTOR: By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?

ROSE: Thanks.

MICKEY: Thanks for what?

ROSE: Exactly.

(Rose kisses Mickey on the cheek and runs into the Tardis.)

"Okay, that was episode one _Rose_. Aptly named for the companion that was obtained in the episode," Winter explained with a smile. "Now, we will be taking a short bathroom break and then getting snacks for the next episode."

Episodes:

Season 1 Ep. 1 "Rose" by Jon Pertwee


	4. Chapter Three: The End of the World

Chapter Three: The End of the World

"Okay, now that everyone has their snacks, we can start watching the next episode," Winter said enthusiastically, while happily munching away on a mixture of buttery popcorn and M&M's, periodically offering the bowl to her wife.

 **[Tardis]**

(Carrying straight on from the last episode. The Doctor and Rose are lit in green light from the time rotor.)  
DOCTOR: Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?

The companions all voiced their preference. The room was split half way between forwards and backwards.

ROSE: Forwards.

"Aww," the backwards side of the room groaned sadly.

DOCTOR: How far?  
ROSE: One hundred years.

"Boring!" Jack exclaimed, smirking when another pillow was added to his plush platoon.

(A few seconds of travel.)  
DOCTOR: There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century.  
ROSE: You're kidding.  
DOCTOR: That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?

"Told you," Jack said, through the fluffy barrier.

ROSE: Fine by me.  
DOCTOR: Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire.  
ROSE: You think you're so impressive.  
DOCTOR: I am so impressive.  
ROSE: You wish.  
DOCTOR: Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!  
(The Tardis zooms down a time vortex.)  
ROSE: Where are we? What's out there?

 **[Gallery 15]**

(Rose goes down a flight of steps and a large shutter in the wall descends to reveal an orbital view of the Earth.)  
DOCTOR: You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day  
(He looks at his wrist watch.)  
DOCTOR: Hold on.  
"DOCTOR: This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world.

"Great place for a first date, Doc," Jack said sarcastically.

Winter, not understanding that Jack was using sarcasm, said, "I agree, this is a wonderful place to have a date."

 **[Space]**

(A pair of small spaceships approach a large cruciform space station hanging in Earth orbit.)  
COMPUTER: Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine

"Why is religion prohibited?" Clara asked, confused.

"Some religions can be a little, well, explosive. Especially when combined with others," Ten explained.

 **[Platform One]**

COMPUTER: Followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite.  
(The Doctor and Rose walk along a corridor.)  
ROSE: So, when it says guests, does that mean people?  
DOCTOR: Depends what you mean by people.  
ROSE: I mean people. What do you mean?  
DOCTOR: Aliens.  
ROSE: What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?  
DOCTOR: It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn.  
(The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on a wall panel.)  
ROSE: What for?  
DOCTOR: Fun.

"You don't have to sound so excited about it," Donna grumbled

 **[Observation gallery]**

(A large area with a few display cases and a view of space to the front and above.)  
DOCTOR: Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich.  
ROSE: But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra. The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years.  
DOCTOR: Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there? Gravity satellites holding back the sun.  
ROSE: The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things.  
DOCTOR: They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over.  
ROSE: How long's it got?  
DOCTOR: About half an hour and then the planet gets roasted.  
ROSE: Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?  
DOCTOR: I'm not saving it. Time's up.  
ROSE: But what about the people?  
DOCTOR: It's empty. They're all gone. No one left.  
ROSE: Just me, then.  
(A blue-skinned person with golden slit eyes strides towards them.)  
STEWARD: Who the hell are you?  
DOCTOR: Oh, that's nice, thanks.  
STEWARD: But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now.  
DOCTOR: That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one. Is that all right?  
(The Doctor puts away the piece of apparently blank paper he was showing to the steward.)

"Psychic paper, shows them whatever they want to see," Eleven explained with a huge smile.

"We know," all the companions sighed, shaking their head fondly.

STEWARD: Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy.  
(The Steward goes over to a lectern.)  
DOCTOR: The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time.  
ROSE: He's blue.  
DOCTOR: Yeah.  
ROSE: Okay.  
STEWARD: We have in attendance the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions.  
(A lot of small people appear.)  
STEWARD: Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa. (A bark-skinned woman enters with two larger male escorts.)

Nine flinched at Jabe's name causing Rose to look at him worriedly. She places a comforting hand on his shoulder, which he promptly shook off.

STEWARD: There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon.  
(Another blue alien, this time mostly head and body, sitting on a transport pod.)  
STEWARD: And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.  
(A group of black-robed bipeds.)  
STEWARD: The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you.  
(Fur clad reptilians. The announcements of variations on the biped theme continue.)  
STEWARD: Cal Spark Plug. Mister and Mrs. Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light.  
(The trees go up to the Doctor.)  
JABE: The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather.  
(She gives the Doctor a rooted twig in a small pot.)  
DOCTOR Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you in return air from my lungs.

"Ooh, can I have some air from your lungs, Doc," Jack said, smirking coyly and gaining another pillow for his platoon.

(He breathes gently on Jabe.)  
JABE: How intimate.  
DOCTOR: There's more where that came from.  
JABE: I bet there is.  
STEWARD: From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe. (A large glass case barely makes it through the doorway. It contains a giant humanoid head with straggly hair and squinting eyes.)

A gasp was heard throughout the room, and caused everyone to turn and look for the source—Jack.

He turned to look at Winter, his face stricken, and asked, "Is that who I think it is?"

Winter nodded, smiling widely until, she looked over at the Physician who was shaking her head at her innocent wife. The other companions and Nine looked at him confused when he made a noise that sounded like a dying cat. Winter winced once she realized she was the cause of the man's anguish, and sent him a small apology smile.

DOCTOR: The Moxx of Balhoon. MOXX: My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas.  
(Moxx's spit hits Rose in the face.)

Winter laughed, cutting off abruptly as pillow hit her in the face. The poor, innocent victim turned to the blonde companion with a look of complete and utter betrayal. Rose groaned and apologized to the pitiful white-bluenette.

DOCTOR: Thank you very much.  
(The black-robed group glide up.)  
DOCTOR: Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs.  
(A large metal hand holds out a ball.)  
ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.

"That's not creepy at all," Bill said sarcastically.

STEWARD: And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen.  
(A face in a piece of thin skin stretched in a rectangular frame is wheeled in by two men hidden in top-to-toe hospital whites.)

Every single human jaw in the room dropped (aside from Rose, obviously) shocked that that was what humans turned into.

CASSANDRA: Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me. Moisturize me.  
(One of her attendants uses a pump spray on the skin.)  
CASSANDRA: Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils.

That managed to get a laugh out of the flabbergasted companions.

Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity.  
(Rose has walked round the back of Cassandra to see just how thin she is, and a 50's juke box is wheeled in.)  
CASSANDRA: According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!  
(One of the little attendants presses a button, a 45 is selected and the strains of Tainted Love by Soft Cell ring out.)

"Pfft! Classic music? Oh yeah, whenever I think of 'classical music' _Tainted Love_ is the first thing in my mind," Amy said, sarcastically.

STEWARD: Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes.  
(Rose finally can't take all the aliens, and runs out. The Doctor goes to follow her, but gets intercepted.)

All of the companions wince in sympathy. They too had once been overwhelmed by all of this. Even the most experienced companions could remember a time when they were couldn't cope with the stress of traveling with the Doctor.

JABE: Doctor?  
(Flash! from a device she is holding. A type of camera, presumably.)  
JABE: Thank you.  
ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.  
STEWARD: No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward.  
ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.  
STEWARD: Well, yes, thank you. Of course.  
(The steward takes the proffered ball. Jabe consults her camera, which twitters like a bird.)  
JABE: Identify species. Please identify species. Now stop it. Identify his race. Where's he from? It's impossible.

"Crafty, I like her," Amy said, making the Doctors and Rose wince thinking about what would happen to the poor tree woman.

(She hurries away. One of the Adherent's gifts has been placed on a shelf in a display stand. It opens, and a four-legged metal spider scurries away.)

The wheels inside River's head started turning, trying to figure out why someone had hidden that device inside one of the gifts of peace. The most likely explanation would be surveillance or sabotage, but she would need to gather more information.

 **[Corridor]**

(Rose has wandered off, and is looking at the growing Sun through a window when a young woman of the same race as the Steward comes round the corner. She is wearing overalls and a baseball cap.)  
ROSE: Sorry. Am I allowed to be in here?  
RAFFALO: You have to give us permission to talk.

"These people have to be given _permission_ to _talk_?" Martha asked, scowling at the thought. "Why?" before anyone one could answer, she said, "You know what, I don't want to know."

ROSE: Err, you have permission.  
RAFFALO: Thank you. And, no, you're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere.  
ROSE: Okay.  
(Raffalo goes to a wall panel and unlocks it.)  
ROSE: What's your name?  
RAFFALO: Raffalo.  
ROSE: Raffalo?  
RAFFALO: Yes, miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance. There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe's suite. There must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water.  
ROSE: So, you're a plumber?  
RAFFALO: That's right, miss.  
ROSE: They still have plumbers?

"Of course they still have plumbers, Rose," Ten said, shaking his head fondly.

RAFFALO: I hope so, else I'm out of a job.  
ROSE: Where are you from?  
RAFFALO: Crespallion.  
ROSE: That's a planet, is it?

"Actually, it's quite interesting Crespallion is part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty six," Eleven explained, about to launch into a full blown explanation of how Crespallion fit in the universe, but was interrupted by a smirking Rose.

"I know," she said, gesturing to the screen.

RAFFALO: No. Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty six.

"Oh."

RAFFALO: And where are you from, miss? If you don't mind me asking.  
ROSE: No, not at all. Er, I don't know. A long way away. I just sort of hitched a lift with this man. I didn't even think about it. I don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger. Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it.

The Doctors all winced at the thought that most of their companions had no idea what they were signing up for when they started traveling with them. The companions, on the other hand, whacked the Doctor on the back of the head for even having that train of thought.

RAFFALO: Thank you, miss. And er, thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate.

Martha scowled once again at how inconsiderate the people of the future where.

ROSE: Okay. See you later.  
(Rose leaves. Raffalo removes the wall panel and has a look inside.)  
RAFFALO: Now then. Control, I'm at junction nineteen and I think the problem's coming from in here. I'll go inside and have a look.  
(Before she can crawl into the conduit, there is a tapping sound of metal on metal.)  
RAFFALO: What's that? Is something in there?  
(A metal spider comes towards her.)

 _Oh no,_ River thought.

RAFFALO: Oh! Who are you, then?  
(It scuttles away.)  
RAFFALO: Hold on! I if you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back.  
(She gets inside the conduit.)  
RAFFALO: Ah, there you are. Now, I just need to register your ident. Oh, there's two of you. Got yourself a little mate. I think I'd better report this to Control. How many of you are there? What are you? Oh, no, no, no!  
(Raffalo gets dragged along the conduit.)

"No! Not her," Rose wailed, burying her face in Ten's shoulder.

Nine glared daggers at the back of Winter's head. Only stopping when he saw the Physician noticed and started glaring right back at him. He scowled at her as she made a sign with two fingers that she was watching him.

 **[Steward's office]**

(The Steward puts his gift on a side table and sits at his desk. The computer beeps and burbles at him.)  
STEWARD: What's that? Well, how should I know?  
(He makes a broadcast.)  
STEWARD: Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery fifteen please report to the Steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty five point four slash cup slash sixteen. Thank you.  
(The ball hatches another metal spider.)

"Sweetie, you need to remember to brush up on your peace treaties, before you get into real trouble," River said, before laughing at the thought with Eleven and Amy.

 **[Space]**

COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty five minutes.

 **[Gallery 15]**

(Rose is playing with the ball.)  
COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty five minutes.  
ROSE: Oh, thanks.  
(She puts the ball down and picks up the plant pot.)  
ROSE: Hello. My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related. I'm talking to a twig.  
(The ball hatches.)

Everyone, except for Rose, started laughing at the poor girl.

 **[Outside Gallery 15]**

(The little assistants are wheeling the Tardis away.)  
DOCTOR: Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches.  
(One of them hands the Doctor a ticket. It says on one side - Have A Nice Day. A pair of spiders scuttle along the ceiling.)

By this point, River had figured out what the spiders were for. They were for sabotage, most likely a hostage situation, since they were trying not to be seen. She sat back on the couch, proud that she had figured out what was going on.

 **[Gallery 15]**

(The spider scans Rose's hand then scuttles away when the Doctor calls out.)  
DOCTOR [OC]: Rose? Are you in there?  
(The Doctor enters.)  
DOCTOR: Aye, aye. What do you think, then?  
ROSE: Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper. They're just so alien. The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em and they're alien.  
DOCTOR: Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South.

"Didn't we go there?" Amy asked, looking at Eleven.

"Oh yeah. I did, didn't I?" Eleven said, remembering that particular adventure.

ROSE: Where are you from?  
DOCTOR: All over the place.  
ROSE: They all speak English.  
DOCTOR: No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the Tardis. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates.  
ROSE: It's inside my brain?

The companions winced.

DOCTOR: Well, in a good way.  
ROSE: Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?  
DOCTOR: I didn't think about it like that.  
ROSE: No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?

The Nine, Ten, and Eleven flinched.

DOCTOR: I'm just the Doctor.  
ROSE: From what planet?  
DOCTOR: Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!  
ROSE: Where are you from?  
DOCTOR: What does it matter?  
ROSE: Tell me who you are!  
DOCTOR: This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me.  
ROSE: Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me.

Rose winced at how insensitive that sounded now that she knew what had happened to his home planet.

COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes.  
ROSE: All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver.  
(Rose takes out her mobile phone.)  
ROSE: Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit.  
DOCTOR: Tell you what.  
(He takes her phone apart.)  
DOCTOR: With a little bit of jiggery pokery.  
ROSE: Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?  
DOCTOR: Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?  
ROSE: No, I failed hullabaloo.

They all laughed at the playful banter between Doctor and companion. Jack chuckled at how obviously the two were in love, even this early in their timeline.

DOCTOR: Oh. There you go.  
(Rose phones home.)  
JACKIE [OC]: Hello?  
ROSE: Mum?  
JACKIE [OC]: Oh, what is it?

 **[The Tyler flat]**

(Jackie is emptying the washing machine.)  
JACKIE: What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits.

 **[Gallery 15]**

JACKIE [OC]: You should get your money back. Go on.

 **[The Tyler flat]**

JACKIE: There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day.

 **[Gallery 15]**

JACKIE [OC]: What's so funny?  
ROSE: Nothing. You all right, though?

 **[The Tyler flat]**

JACKIE: Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: What day is it?

"Don't ask that! She'll think you're drunk," Jack said, exasperated.

 **[The Tyler flat]**

JACKIE: Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover?

"Told you so," Jack said smugly, before getting hit in the face with a plush pillow.

 **[Gallery 15]**

JACKIE: Oh, I tell you what. Put a quid in that Lottery syndicate. I'll pay you back later.  
ROSE: Yeah, er, I was just calling 'cos

 **[The Tyler flat]**

ROSE [OC]: I might be late home.  
JACKIE: Is there something wrong?

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: No. I'm fine. Top of the world.

Winter snorted at the pun, causing the Physician to shake her head fondly.

(Jackie rings off.)  
DOCTOR: Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill.  
ROSE: That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead.  
DOCTOR: Bundle of laughs, you are.  
(The space station shakes.)  
DOCTOR: That's not supposed to happen.

 **[Steward's office]**

STEWARD: Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end.  
(He makes a calm broadcast.)  
STEWARD: Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you.  
(He berates Control.)  
STEWARD: The whole place shook! I felt it. I've hosted all sorts of events on Platforms One, Three, Six and Fifteen and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you, if this lot decide to sue. I'm going to scan the infrastructure.  
(He does so, then hears a scuttling sound.)  
STEWARD: What's that? Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings. I have no idea. Well, they're small. The scan says they're metal. I don't know what they look like!  
(Then he sees one on the desk.)

"Oh no," River sighed.

STEWARD: Although I imagine they might look rather like that. You're not on the guest list. How did you get on board?  
(The spider pushes a button on his desk keyboard.)  
STEWARD: No.  
COMPUTER: Sun filter deactivated.  
STEWARD: No!  
COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.  
(The room starts to fill with white light from the ceiling downwards as the filter on the window lowers.)  
STEWARD: No! Sun filter, up! No, no, no!  
COMPUTER: External temperature four thousand degrees.  
STEWARD: Control, respond! Sun filter up! Argh!  
(The spider escapes through a small vent into the corridor.)

Nine, once again, glared at the back of Winter's head. Only this time, the Physician didn't notice and Nine's anger festered.

 **[Observation gallery]**

MOXX: Indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario.

Ten, Rose, and Jack all started at the mention of Bad Wolf this early in the timeline.

MOXX: I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse  
(The Doctor and Rose enter.)  
DOCTOR: That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?  
JABE: It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me.  
DOCTOR: Where's the engine room?  
JABE: I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife.  
DOCTOR: She's not my wife.  
JABE: Partner?  
DOCTOR: No.  
JABE: Concubine?  
DOCTOR: Nope.  
JABE: Prostitute?

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately hit in the face with a pillow.

ROSE: Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson.  
(Rose goes to talk to Cassandra.)  
DOCTOR: Don't start a fight.  
(He offers Jabe his arm.)  
DOCTOR: I'm all yours.  
ROSE: And I want you home by midnight.  
COMPUTER: Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes.

 **[Maintenance duct]**

(A multitude of spiders scuttle out of sight behind the swags of wiring and piping.)  
DOCTOR: Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a Captain or what?  
JABE: There's just the Steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal mind.  
DOCTOR: You mean the computer? But who controls that?  
JABE: The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another.  
DOCTOR: But there's no one from the Corporation on board.  
JABE: They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the Alpha class. Nothing can go wrong.  
DOCTOR: Unsinkable?  
JABE: If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate.  
DOCTOR: You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?

River whacked Eleven on the back of the head.

JABE: I'm afraid not.  
DOCTOR: Fantastic.  
JABE: I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?

 **[Observation gallery]**

CASSANDRA: Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun.

The humans present scowled at what had become of the human race.  
ROSE: What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?  
CASSANDRA: They say mankind has touched every star in the sky.  
ROSE: So, you're not the last human.  
CASSANDRA: I am the last pure human. The others mingled.  
CASSANDRA: Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels.  
ROSE: Right. And you stayed behind.  
CASSANDRA: I kept myself pure.  
ROSE: How many operations have you had?  
CASSANDRA: Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out.  
ROSE: I'd rather die.  
CASSANDRA: Honestly, it doesn't hurt.  
ROSE: No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline.  
CASSANDRA: Oh, well. What do you know?  
ROSE: I was born on that planet, and so was my mum, and so was my dad, and that makes me officially the last human being in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking.  
(The Adherents watch Rose leave.)

River sits up in her seat, wary of what the Adherents are doing.

 **[Maintenance duct]**

DOCTOR: So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this?  
JABE: Respect for the Earth.  
DOCTOR: Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions.  
JABE: Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions.  
DOCTOR: In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land.  
JABE: All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest.  
DOCTOR: Excuse me.  
(He scans a door panel marked Welcome to Platform One. Guide of Platform One Do You Need Assistance. A keypad labelled Maintenance log in, then Access denied.)  
JABE: And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am.

Every companion immediately put an arm around the closest Doctor they could find. They were so distracted, they didn't notice Clara and Bill not doing the same. For those two knew what had truly happened to the Doctor's home planet.

(She puts her hand on his arm, and the Doctor puts his hand over hers. A tear drops from his eye. He gets the door open.)

 **[Engine room]**

(It runs the whole depth of the Platform. The Doctor and Jabe are by a catwalk that runs through a series of large fans.)  
DOCTOR: Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?

Winter leaned closer to her wife, whispering conspiratorially about how it was pretty nippy wasn't it.

(In a corridor, Rose is met by the Adherents, who knock her out by pistol whipping her with a weapon. They drag her into a room.)  
DOCTOR: Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro.  
(He scans a panel.)  
DOCTOR: Gotcha.  
(He pulls it off. A spider scuttles out and up the wall.)  
DOCTOR: What the hell's that?  
JABE: Is it part of the retro?  
DOCTOR: I don't think so. Hold on.  
(The Doctor aims his screwdriver at the spider, then Jabe lassoes it.)  
DOCTOR: Hey, nice liana.  
JABE: Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public.  
DOCTOR: Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?  
JABE: What does it do?  
DOCTOR: Sabotage.

River mentally patted herself on the back for figuring it out so early. Now, all she had to do was figure out who was behind it and why they were.

COMPUTER: Earth Death in ten minutes.  
DOCTOR: And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on.  
COMPUTER: Earth Death in ten minutes.

 **[Observation gallery]**

CASSANDRA: The planet's end. Come gather, come gather. Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad.  
(The jukebox selects a record labeled Toxic by Britany Spears.)

That managed to get a laugh out of the tense room.

 **[Outside the Steward's office]**

(Smoke from the room is filling the corridor and the glare is coming through a small glass panel in the door. The little assistants have gathered.)  
DOCTOR: Hold on. Get back.  
(The Doctor does the sonic thing on another small panel.)  
COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.  
JABE: Is the Steward in there?!  
DOCTOR: You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend.  
(He runs off.)

They all grimace, thinking of what a horrible way to die that would be, and how sorry they were for the Steward.

 _That girl is forcing me to watch all of my failures. She knows how much this hurts me to watch, and she's enjoying it._ Nine thought, once again glaring at the back of Winter's head. _That_ thing _is worse than a bloody dalek._

 **[Gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.  
(Rose wakes in time to see the deadly glare begin to fill the room. She hammers on the door.)  
ROSE: Let me out! Let me out!  
COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.

In that moment, everyone forgets that this is all in the past and Rose is safe in the room with them, and sit forward in their seats, silently urging the Doctor to get there faster.

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

ROSE: Let me out! Let me out!

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: Let me out!  
COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.  
(He works the door panel.)  
DOCTOR: Anyone in there?

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: Let me out!

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

DOCTOR: Oh, well, it would be you.

Clara whacked Twelve on the back of his head.

"Ow!"

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: Open the door!

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

DOCTOR: Hold on. Give us two ticks.

 **[Gallery 15]**

(The scorching rays reach the top of the door.)  
COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.

Some of them were so worried, they started biting their fingernails nervously. Others were softly commanding the Doctor to go faster. Rose, on the other hand, was sitting back, rolling her eyes at the fact that they were worrying over someone who was in the same room, but secretly she was touched.

 **[Gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.  
DOCTOR: Just what we need.

 **[Gallery 15]**

DOCTOR [OC]: The computer's getting clever.  
ROSE: Stop mucking about!

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

DOCTOR: I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back.

 **[Gallery 15]**

ROSE: Open the door!  
DOCTOR [OC]: I know!  
(Rose runs down the steps away from the glare as it moves down the door.)

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

ROSE [OC]: The lock's melted!  
COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter

 **[Outside gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: Descending. Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.  
(Rose runs back up to the door.)  
DOCTOR: The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there!

 **[Gallery 15]**

DOCTOR [OC]: Don't move!  
ROSE: Where are am I going to go, Ipswich?

"I hear it's very nice this time of year," Winter jokes.

COMPUTER: Earth Death in five minutes.

 **[Observation gallery]**

JABE: The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One.  
CASSANDRA: How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me.

River sneered in disgust, having figured out who had done it and why.

MOXX: Summon the Steward.  
JABE: I'm afraid the Steward is dead.  
MOXX: Who killed him?  
CASSANDRA: This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face.

"Talk to the skin. Talk to the skin," Winter softly jokes to her wife.

The Physician punched her in the arm playfully, shaking her head, trying to cover up her own soft chuckles.

DOCTOR: Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master.  
(The Doctor puts down the spider that Jabe was scanning, and it scuttles off to Cassandra and scans her, then goes to the black gowned group.)  
CASSANDRA: The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!  
DOCTOR: That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it  
(He goes over to the Adherents. Their leader tries to hit him, so he pulls of its arm.)  
DOCTOR: A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea.  
(He pulls one of the wires dangling from the arm, and the Adherents all collapse.)  
DOCTOR: Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home.  
(The Doctor gives the spider a nudge, and it returns to Cassandra.)

River scowled, she had hoped she was wrong, that this wasn't what humanity had become.

CASSANDRA: I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!  
(Her attendants raise their spray guns.)  
DOCTOR: What are you going to do, moisturize me?  
CASSANDRA: With acid. Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face.

"She's not even that," Donna said mockingly, causing the tense room to burst into laughter.

DOCTOR: Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?  
CASSANDRA: I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous.  
DOCTOR: Five billion years and it still comes down to money.

Everyone shakes their head in disgust at what humanity had come to.

CASSANDRA: Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours.

Rose gave an offended look, but it soon turned grateful as the others jumped to her aid, pointing out her beauty and Cassandra's flaws and greed.

MOXX: Arrest her, the infidel  
CASSANDRA: Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option.  
COMPUTER: Earth Death in three minutes.  
CASSANDRA: And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn.  
JABE: Then you'll burn with us.

"Oh, I like her," River said smirking.

Everyone who knew what would happen to the poor tree woman winced.

CASSANDRA: Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate. (There is a series of explosions through the Platform.)  
CASSANDRA: Forcefields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me.

At this point, everyone is glaring heatedly at the screen, hoping that the old saying, "if looks would kill, she'd be dead," would come true.

COMPUTER Safety systems failing.  
CASSANDRA: Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings.  
(Cassandra and her attendants beam out.)  
COMPUTER: Heat levels rising.  
MOXX: Reset the computer.  
JABE: Only the Steward would know how.  
DOCTOR: No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill.  
COMPUTER: Heat rising.

 **[Space]**

COMPUTER: Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes.

 **[Maintenance duct]**

COMPUTER: Heat levels critical.

 **[Engine room]**

COMPUTER: Heat levels critical.  
DOCTOR: Oh. And guess where the switch is.

Everyone who didn't already know the outcome was glued to the edge of their seats in anticipation.

(On the other side of the turning razor sharp fans.)  
COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.  
(The Doctor pulls a breaker lever and the fans slow a little, but it resets as soon as he lets go of it.)  
COMPUTER: External temperature five thousand degrees.  
(Jabe pulls the breaker and holds it down.)  
DOCTOR: You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place.  
JABE: I know.  
DOCTOR: Jabe, you're made of wood.  
JABE: Then stop wasting time, Time Lord.  
COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.

 **[Observation gallery]**

COMPUTER: Heat levels hazardous.  
(The observation window begins to crack.)  
MOXX: We're going to die!  
COMPUTER: Heat levels hazardous.  
(The Doctor makes it past the first fan.)

It's so quiet, it seems like no one in the room is even breathing.

 **[Gallery 15]**

(The window begins to crack here, too.)  
COMPUTER: Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction.  
(Random pieces of deadly glare lance into the room.)

 **[Engine room]**

COMPUTER: Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical.  
(The Doctor looks back at Jabe, then times his run past the second fan.  
Glare lances through into the main observation gallery.)  
COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.  
(Jabe starts to combust.)

"No," everyone in the room screams out at the same time. Nine was on the verge of a meltdown, at this point.

(She lets go of the breaker and the fans speed up to faster than before until they are just a blur.)  
COMPUTER: Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five  
(The Doctor shuts his eyes and walks past the last fan.)  
COMPUTER: Four.  
(He opens his eyes, realizes he is safe and dashes for the reset breaker.)

No one even notices how cool what the Doctor just did was. They were all mourning the loss of Jabe.

DOCTOR: Raise shields!

 **[Gallery 15]**

COMPUTER: One.  
(A forcefield envelopes Platform One as the Earth starts to boil, then explodes.)  
COMPUTER: Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair.  
(Rose opens her eyes as the cracks in the window vanish, and she sees the fractured remains of home floating by.)  
COMPUTER: Exoglass repair.  
(In the engine rooms, the fans have slowed right down for the Doctor to walk back easily to Jabe's smoking remains.)

"Okay, you know what? I've had enough," Nine shouts jumping up, throwing himself at Winter and pinning her to the wall. "You have made me watch, helpless, as innocent people die for long enough! You think this is fun, you don't understand how much this hurts me and I say, no more!" He's screaming by this point, his face almost red with anger. "You're nothing, you know that, nothing! Just some monster who makes people watch their lives like some sort of TV show, which it's not, it's my life! People like you give Daleks a good name!" he spat out, making everyone gasp.

Suddenly, he was pulled away from the monster. Looking back he saw that it was his next two selves, Ten and Eleven, They were looking at him like he was some sort of monster. He didn't understand, until they nodded in the direction of the girl. She was curled up against the Physician, who was cradling her, crying her eyes out. The Physician was glaring at him with fury that put his own to shame.

Winter couldn't take it anymore, she teleported away, not hearing the screams of the Physician. She found a secluded spot away from prying eyes, and broke down.

Back with the Physician, she was freaking out, "No, no, no, this can't be happening." She takes out a phone signaling that she would deal with Nine in a moment. She quickly dialed a number, and put the phone up to her ear. "Come on, pick up, pick up. Ah, Grace, I need you to find Winter for me. _(Pause)_ Yes, I know she's supposed to be with me. She was, but then one of my past selves had to go and upset her. Now she's gone, and I can't track her like you can. _(Pause)_ Call me when you find her." She hangs up the phone, turning to Nine.

She takes long strides over to him, and punches him in the face. "You have no idea what you've just done, but you had better pray that Grace finds my wife, or so help me I will beat you so hard, your body won't even know what regeneration is," She scowled, going behind the couch to pace worriedly, "I'll explain why what you did was so stupid when I know my Darling is okay. Go back to watching our lives." She waves her hand, putting them all back in their seats, unable to care enough watch herself.

There's a heavy silence as the episode started playing once again.

 **[Observation gallery]**

(Rose enters. The Moxx of Balhoon had got fried by the glare. The Doctor enters and goes over to the two other trees. He gives them the bad news.)  
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.  
ROSE: You all right?  
DOCTOR: Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby.  
(He smashes open the alleged ostrich egg to reveal a small device.)  
DOCTOR: Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed.  
CASSANDRA [OC]: Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces.  
(Cassandra is beamed back in.)  
CASSANDRA: Oh.  
DOCTOR: The last human.  
CASSANDRA: So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club.  
DOCTOR: People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them.  
CASSANDRA: It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter  
DOCTOR: And creak?  
CASSANDRA: And what?  
DOCTOR: Creak. You're creaking.  
CASSANDRA: What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!  
DOCTOR: You raised the temperature.  
CASSANDRA: Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything.  
ROSE: Help her.  
DOCTOR: Everything has its time and everything dies.  
CASSANDRA: I'm too young!  
(Splat!)

 **[Space]**

COMPUTER: Shuttles four and six departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance.

 **[Observation gallery]**

(Only Rose and the Doctor are left, looking at the asteroids that were once the Earth as they float past the red giant Sun.)  
ROSE: The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just  
DOCTOR: Come with me.

 **[London]**

(A baby cries, a man laughs. The Doctor and Rose stand in the middle of teeming people going about their daily lives.)  
MAN: Big Issue! Big Issue!  
DOCTOR: You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky. My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before its time.  
ROSE: What happened?  
DOCTOR: There was a war and we lost.  
ROSE: A war with who? What about your people?  
DOCTOR: I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else.

Ten and Eleven's companions comfort them.

ROSE: There's me.  
DOCTOR: You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?  
ROSE: I don't know. I want. Oh, can you smell chips?  
DOCTOR: Yeah. Yeah.  
ROSE: I want chips.  
DOCTOR: Me too.  
ROSE: Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay.  
DOCTOR: No money.  
ROSE: What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close.

 _Ring! Ring!_ A phone started ringing behind them, which made them all turn around.

"'Ello," the Physician answered immediately. There was a pause before she responded, "Oh, thank god, she's okay." She sighs in relief. There's another pause, "She's going to stay with you for a while? _(Pause)_ Okay, just come get me if she needs me, and call me with updates about her condition. _(Pause)_ Thank you, bye." She hangs up, pinching the bridge of her nose, before turning to her audience. "Turn to front of the room."

They all did as instructed and were surprised to see her next to TV.

She glared daggers at Nine, making it very hard for him to keep his indifferent façade up, and not cower in fear. "So, you think that Winter doesn't care that this hurts you (i.e. me, her wife) and that she just watches people die for fun, to make you feel bad." As she was talking, her voice become increasingly condescending. Out of nowhere she asked, "How old do you think she is?"

No one answered.

"Come on," she said mockingly, "take a guess."

"I don't know, twenty-seven, maybe," Nine guessed randomly. "Why does it matter?"

She outright laughed at the guess, making everyone look at her strangely, as that had been their guess, as well.

Sobering, she looked Nine straight in the eye as she said, "My wife is older than you can imagine. She was created at the beginning of the multiverse for one purpose: to protect it." She holds up a hand as she continues, "However, there are some universes that she is not allowed to interfere with, called the Original 'Verse." She points to the screen, "What we are currently watching is the Original 'Verse. Here are some clips of what she does in all of the others."

Winter pops up on the screen. First, she's jumping in front of Clive as an auton shoots her, she dies. Then, she's in Raffalo place in the vent, she dies. Next, she's in the cabin instead of the Steward, she dies. After that, she's in Jabe's place by the switch, catching fire, she dies. Finally, they go into the main room and see everyone who had died in the show alive, with her dead body in the center of the room. The videos end at the same point as the episode does, and by that point everyone is gaping at the screen. Nine is feeling guiltier than he ever has, and he had killed his entire race, for Pete's sake.

"Now do you see what you've done?" the Physician asked gently, seeing the guilt in his eyes. When he nodded, she continued, "Winter is going to be gone for a few episodes. She needs time to recover with someone she has known all her life, but she will be coming back soon, so don't worry. I will be doing Winter's job while she's gone, however. _Ahem,_ that was the second episode of season one, aptly titled _The End of the World._ " She said with a flourish of her hands. "We will take a break to go to the bathroom and refill our snacks, so hurry up," she said skipping out the door.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **I just wanted to say thank you for the favorites, follows, and comments. I really appreciated it and hope I keep making you happy with my writing. Anyway, see ya later!**_


	5. Chapter Four: The Unquiet Dead

Chapter Four: The Unquiet Dead

"Okay, is everyone settled?" the Physician asked, moving to sit next to Rory; she would sit there until Winter got back. At everyone's nod, she said, "Time for the third episode!" She plopped down with her popcorn and M&M's and sighed. She missed her wife.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

(A small altar with a cross on it flanked by a pair of candles. The rest of the room is also candle-lit and there are arum lilies in vases by an open coffin.)

"Well, that's not creepy and foreboding at all," Rory said sarcastically, causing the Physician giggle uncontrollably. It wasn't that funny, but she liked seeing the smile on his face. Maybe now he would feel confident enough to contribute more often.

(The bald Welsh undertaker lights the gas lamp then speaks to his client.)  
SNEED: Sneed and Company offer their sincerest condolences, sir, in this most trying hour.  
REDPATH: Grandmamma had a good innings, Mister Sneed. She was so full of life. I can't believe she's gone.  
SNEED: Not gone, Mister Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping.  
REDPATH: May I have a moment?  
SNEED: Yes, of course. I shall be in the next room, should you require anything.  
(Sneed leaves. The man gazes down the corpse of his mother. Her skin turns blue for a moment then her eyes open.)

Almost everyone screamed, clinging to the nearest life form. The only ones who didn't jump were Nine, Twelve, River, and the Physician, but even they flinched a bit.

(She grabs her son by the throat and knocks over a vase. The crash brings Sneed back in.)  
SNEED: Oh, no. No.  
(Sneed frees Redpath from the woman's grasp, forces her down and tries to put the coffin lid on.)  
SNEED: Gwyneth! Get down here now! We've got another one!

"Another one?" Donna asked, creeped out at the thought of copses walking around.

The Physician, on the other hand, sighed. She was missing her wife now more than ever, since Winter would have commented something along the lines of, "Oh, cool! Zombies! Haven't seen those for a while, ay." The Physician would have rolled her eyes and swatted away the impending kiss on the cheek, but would internally be elated that her wife was having fun. This was supposed to be their time together after an adventure gone wrong, after all. She zoned out the show, just wanting her wife to be back with her.

(The vigorous corpse pushes the lid off, knocking Sneed out, and kicks her way out of the coffin side. She walks down the snow-covered street, groaning, and with blue vapour coming from her screaming mouth.)

 **[Tardis]**

(The Tardis is in a rather jerky flight.)  
DOCTOR: Hold that one down!  
ROSE: I'm holding this one down.  
DOCTOR: Well, hold them both down.  
ROSE: It's not going to work.

The Doctors, except the Physician, who wasn't even paying attention, all gave the blonde companion an offended look.

(Rose tries to stretch across half the console.)  
DOCTOR: Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?  
ROSE: What happened in 1860?  
DOCTOR: I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!

The companions, except for Rory who was trying, and failing to comfort the Physician, shake their heads fondly, that was just like their Doctor.

 **[Kitchen]**

SNEED: Gwyneth! Where are you, girl? Gwyneth!  
(Gwyneth comes in from outside.)  
SNEED: Where've you been? I was shouting.  
GWYNETH: I've been in the stables, sir, breaking the ice for old Sampson.  
SNEED: Well, get back in there and harness him up.  
GWYNETH: Whatever for, sir?  
SNEED: The stiffs are getting lively again. Mister Redpath's grandmother, she's up and on her feet and out there somewhere on the streets. We've got to find her.  
GWYNETH: Mister Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly.  
SNEED: Don't look at me like it's my fault. Now, come on, hurry up. She was eighty six. She can't have got far.  
GWYNETH: What about Mister Redpath? Did you deal with him?  
SNEED: No. She did.  
GWYNETH: That's awful, sir. I know it's not my place, and please, forgive me for talking out of turn, sir. But this is getting beyond, now. Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help.  
SNEED: And we will, as soon as I get that dead old woman locked up and safe and sound. Now stop prevaricating, girl. Get the hearse ready. We're going body snatching.

 **[Tardis]**

(The Tardis materializes at the end of a snowy street. The Doctor and Rose are lying on the floor. It must have been a rough landing.)

Every single person in the room who had been in a rough landing, looked at the Doctor responsible and smirked, causing them to blush in embarrassment.

ROSE: Blimey!  
DOCTOR: You're telling me. Are you all right?  
ROSE: Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken. Did we make it? Where are we?  
DOCTOR: I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860.  
ROSE: That's so weird. It's Christmas.  
DOCTOR: All yours.  
ROSE: But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still.  
DOCTOR: Not a bad life.  
ROSE: Better with two. Come on, then.  
DOCTOR: Hey, where do you think you're going?  
ROSE: 1860.  
DOCTOR: Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!

"How did you ever remember that?" Donna asked incredulously.

"I didn't," Rose admitted to a shrug. "The hallways just lit up to show me the right way."

Clara immediately whacked Twelve on the back of the head. At his questioning and slightly hurt look, Clara explained in a huffy tone, "When the Tardis kept moving hallways and getting me lost, you said that it was because she was like a cat and needed to warm up to me. Why, then, did the Tardis like _Rose_ immediately?"

"I don't know," he said rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head, "and that wasn't even me. It was Eleven coming up with a clever lie so you wouldn't leave or get mad at him." He gestured to Eleven as he spoke.

"It was you, just younger," she said matter-of-factly, "and there's the fact that Eleven isn't old enough to have told me that yet, so you're the closest I've got to him." They scowl at each other for a few minutes, before breaking into grins. The Doctor because he missed her, and Clara because she realized how funny the whole situation had become.

Once again, only Rory noticed the faraway look in the Physician's eyes. He had been trying to help her cope with her wife not being there, but he wasn't having much luck. _Well,_ he thought to himself, _I'll just have to try harder._

 **[Hearse]**

(Old Sampson and his partner are pulling the hearse slowly down the street.)  
SNEED: Not a sign. Where is she?  
GWYNETH: She's vanished into the ether, sir. Where can she be?  
SNEED: You tell me, girl.

River narrowed her eyes, asking herself why Sneed would look at Gwyneth as if she would know where the old woman was any better than he would.

GWYNETH: What do you mean?  
SNEED: Gwyneth, you know full well.  
GWYNETH: No, sir. I can't.  
SNEED: Use the sight.

You could see the wheels in River's head turning at the new revelation, so Gwyneth _did_ have a way to find the walking corpse. This only raised more questions how did she get this gift? Was Gwyneth born with it or did she somehow gain it? River would need more information.

GWYNETH: It's not right, sir.  
SNEED: Find the old lady or you're dismissed. Now, look inside, girl. Look deep. Where is she?

The woman in the room looked affronted at Sneed's treatment of the girl, except, of course the Physician.

GWYNETH: She's lost, sir. She's so alone. Oh, my lord. So many strange things in her head.

River raised an eyebrow, this was definitely something Gwyneth had been able to do since birth, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to call and control it that easily. Now, if only River could figure out where it came from.

SNEED: But where?  
GWYNETH: She's excited about tonight. Before she passed on, she was going to see him.  
SNEED: Who's him?  
GWYNETH: The great man. All the way from London. The great, great man.

This intrigued everyone in the room, except, of course the ones who knew and the Physician, who still wasn't paying attention. She didn't need to; she had lived it, after all.

 **[Dressing room]**

MAN: Mister Dickens, Mister Dickens. Excuse me, sir, Mister Dickens. This is your call. Are you quite well, sir?  
DICKENS: Splendid, splendid. Sorry.

"You met Charles Dickens," Clara said, pausing between each word, "and you didn't tell me!" she whacked Twelve on the back of the head repeatedly.

"Ow, ow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said, attempting to shield himself. She stopped after he apologized, and started trying to fix the hair she had messed up. Twelve sighed, long-sufferingly, as if to say, _look what I have to deal with_ , but he allowed her to fix his hair.

The Physician, however, was holding back tears. It reminded her so much of her and her wife. Rory put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

MAN: Time you were on, sir.  
DICKENS: Absolutely. I was just brooding. Christmas Eve. Not the best of times to be alone.  
MAN: Did no one travel with you, sir? No lady wife waiting out front?  
DICKENS: I'm afraid not.  
MAN: You can have mine if you want.

The ladies of the room gave an affronted huff.

DICKENS: Oh, I wouldn't dare. I've been rather, let's say, clumsy, with family matters. Thank God I'm too old to cause any more trouble.  
MAN: You speak as though it's all over, sir.  
DICKENS: No, it's never over. On and on I go, the same old show. I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself for all eternity.

The Doctors could all relate.

MAN: It's never too late, sir. You can always think up some new turns.  
DICKENS: No, I can't. Even my imagination grows stale. I'm an old man. Perhaps I've thought everything I'll ever think. Still, the lure of the limelight's as potent as a pipe, what? Eh? On with the motley.

 **[Tardis]**

(The Doctor is working under the console when Rose returns, appropriately coiffed and attired for 1860.)

Ten turns pink, and mutters, "Blimey," while Nine, Eleven, and Twelve look at him strangely.

DOCTOR: Blimey!  
ROSE: Don't laugh.  
DOCTOR: You look beautiful, considering.  
ROSE: Considering what?  
DOCTOR: That you're human.

The humans give Nine an affronted look, and he raises his hands in surrender.

ROSE: I think that's a compliment. Aren't you going to change?  
DOCTOR: I've changed my jumper. Come on.  
ROSE: You stay there. You've done this before. This is mine.

The companions all smile fondly, reminiscing on their first adventures in the past.

 **[Outside the Tardis]**

(Rose opens the door and steps gingerly out into the fallen snow.)  
DOCTOR: Ready for this? Here we go. History.

 **[Outside the theatre]**

(Charles Dickens walks out onto the stage where an appreciate audience applauds, including one dead woman.)

Everyone grimaces at the sight of the poor dead woman.

(The Doctor and Rose walk down the street while a choir sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. They move on before the hearse stops.)  
GWYNETH: She's in there, sir, I'm certain of it.

River was getting frustrated with not knowing how the girl knew what she knew.

SNEED: Right.  
(The Doctor buys a newspaper.)  
DOCTOR: I got the flight a bit wrong.

"Do you ever not?" Donna asked Ten sarcastically.

He opened his mouth to respond, before closing it, not having an answer. Donna grinned, victoriously.

ROSE: I don't care.  
DOCTOR: It's not 1860, it's 1869.  
ROSE: I don't care.  
DOCTOR: And it's not Naples.  
ROSE: I don't care.  
DOCTOR: It's Cardiff.

River gasped silently as the answer hit her like a ton of bricks: The Rift! That was how Gwyneth obtained the ability, she grew up on the Rift. She sat back in her seat, mentally patting herself on the back.

(That stops Rose in her tracks.)  
ROSE: Right.

"Hey," Jack said, irritated at the slight against his city. "What's wrong with Cardiff?"

Rose shrugged impassively.

 **[Theatre]**

(Mister Dickens is giving his reading from A Christmas Carol.)  
DICKENS: Now, it is a fact that there was nothing particular at all about the knocker on the door of this house, but let any man explain to me if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without it's undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker, but Marley's face. Marley's face! It looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look. It looked like  
(The old woman begins to glow and give off a faint gas.)  
DICKENS: Oh, my lord. It looked like that!  
(Dickens points, and the audience turns to see.)  
DICKENS: What phantasmagoria is this?  
(The corpse rises and groans. The audience screams.)

"Really?" Amy asked incredulously. "Not only did you meet Charles Dickens, but it was on Christmas and there were ghosts. What's next?" she asked chuckling, "Witches and Shakespeare?" Ten and Martha looked at each other when she said this. Looking between them she sighed, "Of course."

 **[Outside the theatre]**

(The Doctor and Rose hear the screams.)  
DOCTOR: That's more like it!

 **[Theatre]**

(A blue gas entity is coming from the corpse and flying around the auditorium. The audience flees.)  
DICKENS: Stay in your seats, I beg you. It is a lantern show. It's trickery.  
SNEED: Excuse me.  
GWYNETH: There she is, sir!  
SNEED: I can see that. The whole blooming world can see that!  
(The police is arriving outside, blowing his whistle.)  
DOCTOR: Fantastic.  
(The corpse collapses.)  
DOCTOR: Did you see where it came from?  
DICKENS: Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!

"Why does everyone blame me?" Twelve asked indignantly. "Do I just have that kind of face, every single time?"

"Yes," Clara smirked, making Twelve cross his arms and pout, like a child who didn't get his way.

(Sneed and Gwyneth pick up the corpse.)  
ROSE: Oi! Leave her alone! Doctor, I'll get them.  
DOCTOR: Be careful! Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way.  
DICKENS: Doctor? You look more like a navvie.  
DOCTOR: What's wrong with this jumper?

 **[Outside the theatre]**

ROSE: What're you doing?!  
GWYNETH: Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary.  
ROSE: She's cold. She's dead! Oh, my God, what'd you do to her?  
(Sneed sneaks up behind Rose and puts a pad of cloth over her mouth. She struggles briefly then passes out.)

Everyone who hadn't been there was urging the Doctor to get there faster and save Rose.

GWYNETH: What did you do that for?  
SNEED: She's seen too much. Get her in the hearse. Legs.

 **[Theatre]**

(The blue entity flies into a gas light.)  
DOCTOR: Gas! It's made of gas.

 **[Outside the theatre]**

DOCTOR: Rose!  
DICKENS: You're not escaping me, sir. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?  
DOCTOR: Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks. Oi, you! Follow that hearse!  
(The Doctor gets into a nearby carriage.)  
DRIVER: I can't do that, sir.  
DOCTOR: Why not?  
DICKENS: I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach.  
DOCTOR: Well, get in, then. Move!

 **[Coach]**

(The driver cracks the whip and the carriage moves down the street.)  
DOCTOR: Come on, you're losing them.  
DRIVER: Everything in order, Mister Dickens?  
DICKENS: No! It is not!  
DOCTOR: What did he say?  
DICKENS: Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humour.  
DOCTOR: Dickens?  
DICKENS: Yes.  
DOCTOR: Charles Dickens?  
DICKENS: Yes.  
DOCTOR: The Charles Dickens?  
DRIVER: Should I remove the gentleman, sir?  
DOCTOR: Charles Dickens? You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. I've read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?

"You're fanboy is showing, Doctor," Clara said teasingly.

"Shut up," the Doctors groaned.

The Physician sighed sadly holding back tears, the whole thing reminded her of her wife and herself. Rory noticed and put an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

DICKENS: A Christmas Carol?  
DOCTOR: No, no, no, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it. Terrifying! The best short story ever written. You're a genius.  
DRIVER: You want me to get rid of him, sir?  
DICKENS: Er, no, I think he can stay.  
DOCTOR: Honestly, Charles. Can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan.

"He won't know what that is," Bill said quickly.

DICKENS: A what? A big what?  
DOCTOR: Fan. Number one fan, that's me.  
DICKENS: How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?

"See," Bill said, slightly smug she had gotten that right. 

DOCTOR: No, it means fanatic, devoted to. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit.  
DICKENS: I thought you said you were my fan.  
DOCTOR: Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that. Come on, faster!  
DICKENS: Who exactly is in that hearse?  
DOCTOR: My friend. She's only nineteen. It's my fault. She's in my care, and now she's in danger.

That jolted everyone out of the fun they were having at seeing the Doctor fanboy. They went back to being worried for Rose, and coaxing the coach to go faster.

DICKENS: Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!  
DRIVER: Yes, sir!  
DOCTOR: Attaboy, Charlie.  
DICKENS: Nobody calls me Charlie.

"The ladies do!" Eleven exclaimed enthusiastically, causing the ladies in the room to give him a strange look, before realizing that they did, and nodding.

DOCTOR: The ladies do.  
DICKENS: How do you know that?  
DOCTOR: I told you, I'm your number one  
DICKENS: Number one fan.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

GWYNETH: The poor girl's still alive, sir! What're we going to do with her?  
SNEED: I don't know! I didn't plan any of this, did I? It isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead.  
GWYNETH: Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?  
(Gwyneth and Sneed leave. The gas lamp flares and there are whispered voices.)

Rose gave an affronted noise at being left in a room with a dead body that could kill her.

 **[Hallway]**

SNEED: I did the Bishop a favour, once. Made his nephew look like a cherub even though he'd been a fortnight in the weir. Perhaps he'll do us an exorcism on the cheap.  
(Someone knocks on the door.)  
SNEED: Say I'm not in. Tell them we're closed. Just, just get rid of them.

 **[Front door]**

(Sneed goes back down the corridor. Rose wakes up as blue gas from the lamp animates young Mister Redpath, who had been placed in a coffin.)

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, some were even biting their nails, urging the Doctor to go faster.

Gwyneth opens the front door to Charles Dickens and the Doctor.)  
GWYNETH: I'm sorry, sir. We're closed.  
DICKENS: Nonsense. Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master.  
GWYNETH: He's not in, sir.  
DICKENS: Don't lie to me, child. Summon him at once.  
GWYNETH: I'm awfully sorry, Mister Dickens, but the master's indisposed.  
(A gas lamp flares.)  
DOCTOR: Having trouble with your gas?  
DICKENS: What the Shakespeare is going on?

Everyone chuckled at the almost swear, before going back to silently urging the Doctor.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

(Rose sees her companion.)  
ROSE: Are you all right? You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?  
(Redpath climbs out of the coffin and walks zombie-like towards her.)  
ROSE: Okay, not kidding.  
(Rose runs for the door.)

 **[Front door]**

(The Doctor goes past Gwyneth to the flaring gas lamp.)  
GWYNETH: You're not allowed inside, sir.  
DOCTOR: There's something inside the walls.  
(Mrs. Redpath reanimates in her coffin.)  
DOCTOR: The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

ROSE: Let me out!

Everyone who wasn't there was on the edge of their seats, biting their nails or quietly urging the Doctor to get there faster.

 **[Front door]**

ROSE [OC]: Open the door!  
DOCTOR: That's her.  
ROSE [OC]: Please, please, let me out!

 **[Hallway]**

(The Doctor runs down the corridor and into Sneed.)  
SNEED: How dare you, sir. (To Dickens.) This is my house!  
DICKENS: Shut up.  
SNEED: (to Gwyneth) I told you.

Everyone glared at the older man.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

ROSE: Let me out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!  
(Redpath grabs Rose. The Doctor kicks the door in.)  
DOCTOR: I think this is my dance.

They all breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the Doctor.

(The Doctor pulls Rose away from Redpath.)  
DICKENS: It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence.  
DOCTOR: No, we're not. The dead are walking. Hi.  
ROSE: Hi. Who's your friend?  
DOCTOR: Charles Dickens.  
ROSE: Okay.

"You accepted that quickly," Rory said incredulously.

Rose shrugged, saying it wasn't the weirdest thing she had seen at that point.

DOCTOR: My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?  
(Redpath replies with several voices.)  
REDPATH: Failing. Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us. Argh!  
(The gas leaves Redpath and his mother and returns to the gas lamp. The corpses collapse.)

River scowled. She had a bad feeling about this, especially since she had felt her husband tense up beside her when those things came onscreen.

 **[Living room]**

(Gwyneth pours tea.)  
ROSE: First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man.

Everyone scowls at the horrid man, not liking that he had felt up their friend like a piece of meat. Rose looked around the room touched that they were reacting that way.

SNEED: I won't be spoken to like this!  
ROSE: Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!

"Good job, Rosie!" Jack complimented, causing Rose to blush.

SNEED: It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs, the er, dear departed started getting restless.  
DICKENS: Tommyrot.

The Doctors scoffed, they always hated having to deal with the sceptics.

SNEED: You witnessed it. Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps.  
(Gwyneth places the Doctor's cup on the mantelpiece beside him.)  
GWYNETH: Two sugars, sir, just how you like it.

That got quite a few raised eyebrows. How did she know how the Doctor liked his tea without him saying anything? River, on the other hand, smirked. Her theory was proving to be right.

SNEED: One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned.  
DICKENS: Morbid fancy.  
DOCTOR: Oh, Charles, you were there.  
DICKENS: I saw nothing but an illusion.  
DOCTOR: If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up. What about the gas?

"Oo," Jack smirked, "you just told Charles Dickens to shut up. Never thought I'd see the day."

SNEED: That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that.  
DOCTOR: Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through.  
ROSE: What's the rift?

"The Rift is a weak point in time and space, or a connection between one place and another. It's interesting because most of the time, this is where ghost stories come from." Eleven explained enthusiastically, about to ramble on some more when Rose held up her hand with a small smile.

"I know," she said gesturing to the screen.

DOCTOR: A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time.

"Oh."

That got a laugh from his companions.

SNEED: That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations.  
(Dickens slams the door as he leaves.)  
SNEED: Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine.

 **[Hallway]**

(Dickens stops by a gas lamp and tries to listen to the whispers.)  
DICKENS: Impossible.

 **[Chapel of Rest]**

(Dickens takes the lid off Redpath's coffin, and waves his hand in front of the dead man's face. The Doctor watches from the doorway as Dickens searches the coffin.)  
DOCTOR: Checking for strings?  
DICKENS: Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud.  
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures.  
DICKENS: I cannot accept that.

Every human in the room could relate to what Dickens was going through. This new world can be hard to accept at first.

DOCTOR: And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach.

River had a bad feeling about these gas things, especially since she could see through Eleven's cool façade to the hurt he was feeling deep down.  
DICKENS: Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?  
DOCTOR: Not wrong. There's just more to learn.

The Physician chocked back a sob at hearing that simple phrase. That was exactly what her darling wife would have said in that situation. Rory continued rubbing soothing circles on her shoulder.

DICKENS: I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, reveled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of specters and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?

 **[Pantry]**

(Gwyneth lights the gas lamp. Rose starts the washing up.)  
GWYNETH: Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right.  
ROSE: Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death. How much do you get paid?  
GWYNETH: Eight pound a year, miss.  
ROSE: How much?

"That's actually quite a lot for that time period," Clara explained, the school teacher in her coming out to play.

Rose blushed at her lack of knowledge at the subject, but felt better when Twelve chimed in and grumbled something about Clara only knowing that because she was a school teacher. Catching her eye he winked, he had known where her mind was going and wanted to let her know how his bossy short companion had known that.

GWYNETH: I know. I would've been happy with six.  
ROSE: So, did you go to school or what?  
GWYNETH: Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper.  
ROSE: What, once a week?  
GWYNETH: We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second.  
ROSE: Me too.

Clara gave an offended look, before conceding that most people hated school.

GWYNETH: Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own.  
ROSE: I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys.  
GWYNETH: Well, I don't know much about that, miss.  
ROSE: Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same.  
GWYNETH: I don't think so, miss.  
ROSE: Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone.  
GWYNETH: I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him.  
ROSE: I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum.

Jack went to say something, but was gifted with another pillow to the face.

GWYNETH: Well, I have never heard the like.  
ROSE: Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start.  
GWYNETH: I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing.  
ROSE: Maybe I am.

"Ow," Jack had been about to comment again, when Rose threw her empty popcorn bowl at him.

ROSE: Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed.  
GWYNETH: Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve.  
ROSE: Oh, I'm sorry.  
GWYNETH: Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss.  
ROSE: Maybe. Er, who told you he was dead?

That got some more raised eyebrows.

GWYNETH: I don't know. Must have been the Doctor.  
ROSE: My father died years back.

River was nearly vibrating with anticipation of her theory being confirmed. Eleven noticed and chuckled at his future wife, glad that she was having fun.

GWYNETH: But you've been thinking about him lately more than ever.  
ROSE: I suppose so. How do you know all this?  
GWYNETH: Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?  
ROSE: No, no servants where I'm from.  
GWYNETH: And you've come such a long way.  
ROSE: What makes you think so?  
GWYNETH: You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss.

Ten, Rose, and Jack flinched at the mention of Bad Wolf. Nine noticed and gave a confused face, but no one gave him any answers, causing him to huff in frustration.

ROSE: It's all right.  
GWYNETH: I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it.  
DOCTOR: But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?  
GWYNETH: All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head.  
DOCTOR: You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key.

River, once again, pat herself on the back for figuring it out so early.

GWYNETH: I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts.  
DOCTOR: Well, that should help. You can show us what to do.  
GWYNETH: What to do where, sir?  
DOCTOR: We're going to have a séance.

"Never thought I'd see the day the Doctor told Charles Dickens to shut up and participated in a séance in the same day," Jack said smirking.

 **[Living room]**

(Everyone is gathered around a table.)  
GWYNETH: This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. Come, we must all join hands.  
DICKENS: I can't take part in this.  
DOCTOR: Humbug? Come on, open mind.  
DICKENS: This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing.  
DOCTOR: Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium.

Everyone groaned at the pun. Everyone except the Physician, who sighed. Winter would have loved that pun.

ROSE: I can't believe you just said that.

"I still can't believe you said that," Rose said with a giggle.

DOCTOR: Come on, we might need you.  
(Dickens sits down between Rose and Gwyneth.)  
DOCTOR: Good man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out.  
GWYNETH: Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden.  
(The whispering starts.)  
ROSE: Can you hear that?  
DICKENS: Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly.  
ROSE: Look at her.  
GWYNETH: I see them. I feel them.  
(Gas tendrils drift above their heads.)

River really didn't like this. Her husband had tensed beside her, as if preparing to be reminded of something bad.

ROSE: What's it saying?  
DOCTOR: They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through.  
GWYNETH: I can't!  
DOCTOR: Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link.  
GWYNETH: Yes.  
(Blue outlines of people appear behind Gwyneth.)  
SNEED: Great God! Spirits from the other side.  
DOCTOR: The other side of the universe.  
(The figures speak with two children's voices, and Gwyneth speaks with them.)  
GELTH: Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us.

River and Jack's gazes hardened at hearing that name. They had heard of the Gelth and didn't like what they had heard.

DOCTOR: What do you want us to do?  
GELTH: The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge.  
DOCTOR: What for?  
GELTH: We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction.  
DOCTOR: Why, what happened?  
GELTH: Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came.  
DICKENS: War? What war?  
GELTH: The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state.

No one had a good feeling about this and they all had uneasy looks on their faces.

DOCTOR: So that's why you need the corpses.  
GELTH: We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us.  
ROSE: But we can't.  
DOCTOR: Why not?  
ROSE: It's not. I mean, it's not  
DOCTOR: Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives.  
GELTH: Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth.  
(The Gelth go back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapses across the table.)  
ROSE: Gwyneth?  
DICKENS: All true.  
ROSE: Are you okay?  
DICKENS: It's all true.

Everyone was tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

(A little later, Gwyneth has been laid on the chaise longue.)  
ROSE: It's all right. You just sleep.  
GWYNETH: But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?  
DOCTOR: They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival.  
ROSE: I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles. Drink this.  
SNEED: Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?  
DOCTOR: Aliens.  
SNEED: Like foreigners, you mean?  
DOCTOR: Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there.  
SNEED: Brecon?

That managed to get a laugh out of the tense room, but the good feeling didn't last long before it became tense once again.

DOCTOR: Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes.  
DICKENS: Which is why they need the girl.  
ROSE: They're not having her.

"It's not your decision," the Physician mumbled. At Rose's angry look, she continued a bit louder, "It's not mine either, it's Gwyneth's." That silenced the blonde companion.

DOCTOR: But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through.  
DICKENS: Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers.  
DOCTOR: Good system. It might work.  
ROSE: You can't let them run around inside of dead people.  
DOCTOR: Why not? It's like recycling.  
ROSE: Seriously though, you can't.  
DOCTOR: Seriously though, I can.  
ROSE: It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death.  
DOCTOR: Do you carry a donor card?  
ROSE: That's different. That's  
DOCTOR: It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying.  
ROSE: I don't care. They're not using her.  
GWYNETH: Don't I get a say, miss?

The Physician nodded at the girl's question, it was after all, her decision and her life was on the line.

ROSE: Look, you don't understand what's going on.  
GWYNETH: You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid.

Rose gave a sheepish look, mumbling explanations under her breath.

ROSE: That's not fair.  
GWYNETH: It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?  
DOCTOR: You don't have to do anything.

The Physician smiled softly at Nine giving the girl a choice, instead of just telling her what to do.

GWYNETH: They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me.  
DOCTOR: We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?  
SNEED: That would be the morgue.  
ROSE: No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?

That got a few weird looks.

 **[Morgue]**

(A cold basement where the recently departed lie under white sheets.)  
DOCTOR: Urgh. Talk about Bleak House.

That managed to get a small chuckle out of the room.

ROSE: The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869.

The companions all remembered getting this very same talk their first adventure in the past.

DOCTOR: Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing.  
DICKENS: Doctor, I think the room is getting colder.  
ROSE: Here they come.  
(A Gelth comes out of a gas lamp by the door and stands under a stone archway.)  
GELTH: You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him.  
ROSE: Promise you won't hurt her.  
GELTH: Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth.

Everyone sobered, tensing when they realized that the gelth hadn't answered the pink-and-yellow girl.

DOCTOR: I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?  
GWYNETH: My angels. I can help them live.  
DOCTOR: Okay, where's the weak point?  
GELTH: Here, beneath the arch.  
GWYNETH: Beneath the arch.  
(Gwyneth stands under the arch, inside the Gelth.)

Everyone was silently pleading Gwyneth not to do it.

ROSE: You don't have to do this.  
GWYNETH: My angels.  
GELTH: Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!  
GWYNETH: Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!  
GELTH: Bridgehead establishing.  
GWYNETH: Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!  
GELTH: It is begun. The bridge is made.  
(Gwyneth opens her mouth, and blue gas comes out.)  
GELTH: She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend.  
(The sweet blue apparition turns flame red with sharp teeth. its voice deepens and hardens.)

Glaring at the screen, the companions realized angrily that the gelth had preyed on how fresh the wounds from the Time War was for the Doctor.

GELTH: The Gelth will come through in force.  
DICKENS: You said that you were few in number.  
GELTH: A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses.  
(The dead get up.)  
SNEED: Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you  
ROSE: Mister Sneed, get back!  
(A corpse grabs Sneed and snaps his neck. A Gelth zooms into his mouth.)

Everyone winced.

DOCTOR: I think it's gone a little bit wrong.

"No duh," the Physician snorted sarcastically.

Nine rolled his eyes at his future self.

SNEED: I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us.  
DICKENS: No.  
GELTH: We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead.  
DOCTOR: Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!  
GELTH: Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth.  
(Dead Sneed backs Rose and the Doctor up against a metal gate.)  
DICKENS: Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so  
(The Doctor and Rose hide behind the metal gate, where the corpses cannot reach them.)  
GELTH: Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth.  
DOCTOR: I trusted you. I pitied you!  
GELTH: We don't want your pity. We want this world and all it's flesh.  
DOCTOR: Not while I'm alive.

Everyone saw what was going to happen next.

GELTH: Then live no more.

Of course, they were right.

(Dickens runs out of the house, but blue gas seeps out round the door. He runs down the street, chased by a Gelth.)  
ROSE: But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?  
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.

Ten and Eleven hung their heads in shame, causing their companions to try to cheer them up. It worked for a few moments, before they remembered what happened to Gwyneth and sobered quickly. The room became tense once again.

 **[Street]**

GELTH: Failing! Atmosphere hostile!  
(The Gelth dives into the street lamp.)  
DICKENS: Gas. The gas!

No one really understood what he was going on about, except the ones who were there and River, who had figured out what needed to be done.

 **[Morgue]**

ROSE: But it's 1869. How can I die now?  
DOCTOR: Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here.  
ROSE: It's not your fault. I wanted to come.

All of the companions repeated the same sentiment, warming the Doctor's hearts.

DOCTOR: What about me? I saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff.

"Hey," Jack exclaimed, once again affronted at the slight against his city.

Nine just shrugged good-naturedly.

ROSE: It's not just dying. We'll become one of them.

"Why, thank you, Debbie Downer. I didn't know that," the Physician said sarcastically. Rose gave her a look that said, _not helping_.

(Dickens runs back into Sneed's house and turns the gas lamps off then on again. He holds a handkerchief to his mouth to try and stop himself choking on the unlit town gas as he goes.)  
ROSE: We'll go down fighting, yeah?  
DOCTOR: Yeah.  
ROSE: Together?  
DOCTOR: Yeah.  
(They hold hands.)  
DOCTOR: I'm so glad I met you.  
ROSE: Me too.

The Physician, once again reminded of her darling wife, sighed and ceased paying attention for the time being.

(Dickens runs in.)  
DICKENS: Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!  
DOCTOR: What're you doing?  
DICKENS: Turn it all on. Flood the place!  
DOCTOR: Brilliant. Gas.  
ROSE: What, so we choke to death instead?

Pretty much everyone was just as confused as Rose.

DICKENS: Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous.  
DOCTOR: Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!

That was brilliant! Everyone was now cheering for Dickens and the Doctor, but still silently urging them to go faster.

(The corpses leave the Doctor and Rose, and start shambling towards Dickens.)  
DICKENS: I hope, oh Lord, I hope that this theory will be validated soon, if not immediately.  
DOCTOR: Plenty more!  
(The Doctor rips a gas pipe from the wall. The Gelths leave the corpses.)  
DICKENS: It's working.  
(The Doctor and Rose come out of the alcove.)  
DOCTOR: Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels.  
GWYNETH: Liars?  
DOCTOR: Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!  
ROSE: I can't breathe.  
DOCTOR: Charles, get her out.  
ROSE: I'm not leaving her.  
GWYNETH: They're too strong.  
DOCTOR: Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift.  
GWYNETH: I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out.  
(Gwyneth takes a box of matches from her apron pocket.)

Gasps rang out throughout the room. They had been hoping the young girl would live, but that didn't seem to be the case.

ROSE: You can't!  
GWYNETH: Leave this place!  
DOCTOR: Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!  
(Rose and Dickens leave.)  
DOCTOR: Come on, leave give that to me.

The room is once again tense and silent, urging the Doctor to save Gwyneth and get out of there.

 **[Hallway]**

DICKENS: This way!

 **[Morgue]**

(Gwyneth doesn't move. The Doctor feels for a pulse in her neck.)  
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.  
(He kisses her forehead.)  
DOCTOR: Thank you.  
(The Doctor runs out. Gwyneth opens the box and takes out a match. The Gelth swirl around her as the Doctor runs through the house.)

Everyone is silently mourning the girl they had just begun to know.

 **[Street]**

(The Doctor runs out and KaBOOM! The Doctor goes flying across the street.)  
ROSE: She didn't make it.  
DOCTOR: I'm sorry. She closed the rift.  
DICKENS: At such a cost. The poor child.  
DOCTOR: I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes.  
ROSE: What do you mean?  
DOCTOR: I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch.  
ROSE: But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?  
DICKENS: There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor.  
ROSE: She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know.

"We will," Jack said solemnly. Everyone voiced their agreement, even the Physician spoke up.

 **[Outside the Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long.  
ROSE: What are you going to do now?  
DICKENS: I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital.  
DOCTOR: You've cheered up.  
DICKENS: Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them.  
ROSE: Do you think that's wise?  
DICKENS: I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth.  
DOCTOR: Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic.  
ROSE: Bye, then, and thanks.  
(Rose shakes Dickens' hand then kisses his cheek.)  
DICKENS: Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?  
DOCTOR: You'll see. In the shed.  
DICKENS: Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?  
DOCTOR: Just a friend passing through.  
DICKENS: But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?  
DOCTOR: Oh, yes!  
DICKENS: For how long?  
DOCTOR: Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose.  
DICKENS: In the box? Both of you?  
DOCTOR: Down boy. See you.

 **[Tardis]**

ROSE: Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?  
DOCTOR: In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story.  
ROSE: Oh, no. He was so nice.  
DOCTOR: But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise.

 **[Street]**

(The Tardis dematerializes in front of Charles Dickens' astonished eyes. He laughs, and walks away. Somewhere a choir sings Hark the Herald Angels.)  
MAN: Merry Christmas, sir.  
DICKENS: Merry Christmas to you. God bless us, every one!

There was a long pause before the Physician realized that the episode had ended. "Okay, so that was episode three once again aptly named _The Unquiet Dead,"_ she explained faking enthusiasm. "We will be taking a short break to use the bathroom and refill our snacks. See ya!" she skipped out of the room.

 _ **A/N:**_

 **Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows, and comments. I am so happy that you all like my story. Please feel free to comment any constructive criticism you might have, and I will see you later, bye!**


	6. Chapter Five: Aliens of London

Chapter Five: Aliens of London

"Is everyone here?" the Physician asked, looking around the room from her place next to Rory. When she saw everyone was back in their seats, she continued, "Time for the next episode then!" she sat back with her snack.

 **[Powell Estate]**

(The Tardis materializes. Rose and the Doctor get out.)  
ROSE: How long have I been gone?  
DOCTOR: About twelve hours.

"Ow!" Rose had whacked Nine and Ten on the back of the head, causing Amy to smirk. She knew his horrible driving skills would come into play soon.

ROSE: Oh. Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my mum.  
DOCTOR: What're you going to tell her?  
ROSE: I don't know. I've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later. Oh, don't you disappear.  
(While Rose runs up the stairs to the flat, the Doctor spots an old poster half stuck to a concrete pillar. Police Appeal for Assistance. Can You Help?)

"Ow!" Clara, Amy, River, Donna, Martha, and Rose had all just simultaneously whacked the nearest Doctor in the head. The only one spared was the Physician, who was wincing, as if remembering an old pain all of the sudden.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: I'm back! I was with Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you in? So, what's been going on? How've you been? What? What's that face for? It's not the first time I've stayed out all night.  
(Jackie drops her mug of tea. It smashes on the floor. The Doctor finishes reading the poster and runs to the flat. The poster says - Rose Tyler has been missing from her home on the Powell Estate since 6th March 2005.)  
JACKIE: It's you.  
ROSE: Of course it's me.  
JACKIE: Oh, my God. It's you. Oh my God. (Jackie hugs Rose, who spots several different types of missing person posters on the table. The Doctor runs in.)  
DOCTOR: It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry.

"Sorry? Sorry!" Rose exclaimed turning to face Ten with a furious look on her face. "I was gone for a whole year and all you can say is sorry?"

Ten gulped nervously, and quickly apologized more profusely, causing everyone else to snicker at how easily the blonde had the time lord by the ear.

(Outside, a young boy has spray-painted Bad Wolf on the side of the Tardis.)

River was starting to see a pattern. Whenever Bad Wolf was mentioned, certain companions would show visible shock, but then what does Bad Wolf mean. Whatever it was, from the looks on their faces, it couldn't be anything good.

(Inside, astonishment has given way to fury, and a policeman has been called.)  
JACKIE: The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer. You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling.  
ROSE: That's what I was doing.  
JACKIE: When your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another.

Every companion who had gone through something similar winced in sympathy.

ROSE: I meant to phone. I really did. I just I forgot.  
JACKIE: What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?  
DOCTOR: Actually, it's my fault. I sort of err, employed Rose as my companion.

"Oo-la-la Doc, I didn't know you had it in you," Jack smirked causing Nine and Ten to go pink and stutter out.

"Not like that."

POLICEMAN: When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?  
ROSE + DOCTOR: No.

Everyone broke into laughter at the shared embarrassment of the two obvious lovebirds.

JACKIE: Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty five?

"Eleven hundred and twenty seven, actually," Eleven stated proudly, causing everyone to gape at him, before breaking into laughter. The only ones who didn't laugh were the Doctors, who didn't know what was so funny.

JACKIE: What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?  
DOCTOR: I am a Doctor.  
JACKIE: Prove it. Stitch this, mate!  
(Jackie hits the Doctor, hard. Later, in the kitchen, mother and daughter are reconciled.)

"She slapped you!" Jack guffawed loudly. No one was able to contain their laughter.

"Always with the mothers," Ten muttered under his breathe, causing Nine to give him a frightened look at the prospect of being slapped by other mothers.

JACKIE: Did you think about me at all?  
ROSE: I did. All the time, but  
JACKIE: One phone call. Just to know that you were alive.  
ROSE: I'm sorry. I really am.  
JACKIE: Do you know, what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?

"The end of the world," the Physician answered, knowing Jackie couldn't hear her but wanting to feel closer to her wife, "The year 1890, and now here."

 **[Powell Estate]**

(Up on the roof of the block.)  
ROSE: I can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?

"Was it?" Rose asked the humans of the room.

"Meh," was the general consensus.

"So helpful," Rose said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

DOCTOR: Middling.  
ROSE: You're so useless.  
DOCTOR: Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?  
ROSE: I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though.  
DOCTOR: Well, she's not coming with us.  
ROSE: No chance.  
DOCTOR: I don't do families.  
ROSE: She slapped you!

No one even tried to hide their laughter at the reminder.

DOCTOR: Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother.

Martha smirked, looking at Ten, and said, "Well, that's gonna change."

Nine once again gave a fearful look.  
ROSE: Your face.  
DOCTOR: It hurt!  
ROSE: You're so gay. When you say nine hundred years?  
DOCTOR: That's my age.  
ROSE: You're nine hundred years old.

"How old are all of you now?" Bill asked looking at the various other Doctors.

"Nine hundred and seven," Ten stated proudly.

"One thousand and two," Eleven said, somehow contradicting his own age from earlier.

Twelve groaned, but said, "Two thousand and something." Everyone noticed the large gap but didn't say anything, figuring they would find out later.

Everyone looked at the Physician expectantly, but she just shrugged and explained, "I don't know how old I am, I stopped trying to keep track a while ago."

The other Doctors looked at their older self, shocked that she was so old she couldn't remember her age. The humans were also shocked, but for a different reason. They didn't think it was possible to forget one's age.

DOCTOR: Yeah.  
ROSE: My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap. Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist.  
(There is a deep horn and a spaceship, trailing black smoke passes overhead and heads for the city. It misses Tower Bridge, weaves around St Paul's, then with a nasty back-fire and a splutter, dives for the Thames, taking out the Clock Tower at what at first glance looks like 9:58 except the dial is actually backwards, silly special effects people. Big Ben chimes once and the spaceship crashes into the river. The Doctor and Rose watch a plume of black smoke rise into the air on the horizon.)  
ROSE: Oh, that's just not fair.

All the companions expressed their sympathies.

 **[Street]**

(Naturally, the army have closed the roads, much to the annoyance of car drivers.)  
MAN: Just my luck.  
SOLDIER: Get back. Get back.  
DOCTOR: It's blocked off.  
ROSE: We're miles from the Centre. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down.  
DOCTOR: I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!  
ROSE: Did you know this was going to happen?  
DOCTOR: Nope.

"Yep," the physician said at the same time as onscreen Nine.

ROSE: Do you recognize the ship?  
DOCTOR: Nope.

"Yep."  
ROSE: Do you know why it crashed?  
DOCTOR: Nope.

"Yep."

"Are you going to tell us," Nine asked, slightly irritated by his older self.

"Nope," the Physician said popping the _p._

"Then be quiet," Nine said, grumpily.

ROSE: Oh, I'm so glad I've got you.  
DOCTOR: I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us.  
ROSE: Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the Tardis.  
DOCTOR: Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top.

Jack is really glad that the Doctor did that, or he could have been found by torchwood too early in the time stream, and things could have been bad.

ROSE: Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice.

"You'd be surprised," everyone who knew about torchwood said at the same time, causing Rose to blush a bit.

DOCTOR: You'd be surprised. Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The Tardis stays where it is.  
ROSE: So history's happening and we're stuck here.  
DOCTOR: Yes, we are.  
MAN: It's got to be Ken Livingstone, hasn't it?  
ROSE: We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV.

The Doctors make a face at the prospect of being normal, causing their companions to snort.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(News 24 is on the scene.)  
REPORTER [OC]: Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hutchinson is at the scene.  
HITCHINSON [on TV]: The police are urging the public not to panic. There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family.  
(US news channel AMNN.)  
WOMAN [on TV]: The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded.  
(Back to News 24.)  
HITCHINSON [on TV]: The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find.  
(AMNN)  
WOMAN [on TV]: The President will address the nation live from the White House, but the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies.  
(Jackie brings in a mug for Rose and her friend Ru Chan, but not the Doctor.)  
JACKIE: I've got no choice.  
RU: You've broken your mother's heart.  
JACKIE: I'm not going to make him welcome.  
RU: I cradled her like a child.  
DOCTOR: Oi, I'm trying to listen.  
(Cut to outside 10 Downing Street.)  
REPORTER [OC]: His current whereabouts. News is just coming in. We can go to Tom at the Embankment.  
HITCHINSON [on TV]: They've found a body. It's unconfirmed,

Everyone winces at the mention of a body. Nine, however, is watching with growing curiosity. This was the time period he came from after all.

 **[Embankment]**

HITCHINSON: But I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore.

River was already starting to put the pieces of the newest puzzle together. The crash was perfect, too perfect. She needed more information.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(The gathering is turning into a welcome home party for Rose, with wine being served.)  
HITCHINSON [on TV]: A body of some sort has been found inside the wreckage of the spacecraft.  
JACKIE: Oh, guess who asked me out. Billy Crewe.

"Humans, always focusing on the wrong thing," Nine sighed, exasperated. The Doctors all nodded in agreement, causing the humans to look at them, slightly offended. "Oh, not you lot." Nine continued, with a small smirk. The companions rolled their eyes.

HITCHINSON [on TV]: Brought to the nearest shore. Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, the whereabouts is yet unknown. The roads in Central London are being  
(The channel changes to Blue Peter.)  
MATT BAKER [on TV]: And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot in buttercream.

Everyone raises a slight eyebrow at the change in subjects, until they see what caused it.

(A toddler is on the Doctor's lap, wrestling for the remote.)

"Daaww!" is the general consensus of everyone in the room. Nine goes a bit pink around the ears.

MATT BAKER [on TV]: Oh, look at that. Then ice it any colour you want. Here's one I made a little bit earlier. And look at that, your very own spaceship ready to eat. And for something a little extra special  
(News 24 returns.)  
HITCHINSON [OC]: Albion Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything.

 **[Outside the hospital]**

HITCHINSON: But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital. The road's closed off. It's the closest to the river.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

DOCTOR: (to the toddler, with a slight shooing motion) Go on.

Once again, "Daaww!"

HITCHINSON [on TV]: I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building's been evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the

 **[Outside the hospital]**

HITCHINSON: Streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls.

 **[Mortuary]**

(The General marches along the corridor with an escort, and into the room where a dainty oriental physician is in attendance of a large lump under a white sheet.)

"Tosh?" Jack looked at the woman on the screen in utter confusion.

"How do you know her?" Rose asked, looking back and forth between him and the woman onscreen.

"She's part of my team," Jack explained once he got over his shock. They were all still quite confused, but didn't press. They figured they would get answers later.

ASQUITH: Let's have a look, then.  
(She pulls back the sheet.)

No one is happy to be reminded of the dead alien.

ASQUITH: Good God. And that's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy, or a  
SATO: I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up.  
ASQUITH: We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive, get that out of sight.  
(The body is placed into Body Cold Chamber number 5.)

 **[Corridor]**

SATO: Excuse me, sir? I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true what they're saying about the Prime Minister?

River narrowed her eyes, the pieces were starting to form a picture.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(Reporting from outside Number 10.)  
ANDREW MARR [on TV]: Mystery still surrounds their whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticizing his lack of leadership, and. Hold on.  
(An official car pulls up and a portly man gets out.)  
ANDREW MARR [on TV]: Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission

 **[Downing Street]**

ANDREW MARR: On the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now.

River obviously agrees. Why would such a low ranking man be there, and where was the Prime Minister.

 **[Entrance hall]**

GANESH: Indra Ganesh, sir.

The Doctors and Rose make a note of that name, promising never to forget the poor man who died at the hands of the Slitheen.

GANESH: Junior secretary with the MOD. I'll be your liaison.  
GREEN: Where the hell is he?  
GANESH: If we could talk in private, sir. Follow me upstairs.  
HARRIET: Excuse me! Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North.

Everyone who had known Harriet smiled. _Good old Harriet Jones_.

GANESH: I'm sorry, can it wait?  
HARRIET: But I did have an appointment at 3:15.  
GANESH: Yes, and a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. I think the schedule might have changed.  
(The men head up the stairs.)

River scoffs at the man's ignorance, "Good on her, trying to keep a sense of normality in a trying time."

Everyone who had been silently questioning Harriet's sanity, immediately felt bad for questioning her.

 **[Grand staircase]**

GANESH: You've heard about the alien body, sir?  
GREEN: Never mind that, where is he? Where's the Prime Minister?

Everyone sat forward in their seats in anticipation for the man's answer.

GANESH: No one knows, sir. He's disappeared.

And they were disappointed.

GANESH: I have to inform you that with the city gridlocked and the Cabinet stranded outside London, that makes you acting Prime Minister with immediate effect.  
GREEN: Oh, Lord. Oh, hold on. _(fart!)_ Pardon me. It's just a nervous stomach. Anyway.

River smirked, now she knew why the low ranking man was there, all she had to do now was figure out the plan and what type of alien he was. She guessed a large one from the need to rid himself of gas, so that ruled out a few species.

 **[Outer office]**

(A well-built man and woman are here.)  
GANESH: Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5.  
MARGARET: There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car. This is Oliver Charles, transport liaison.

 _So,_ River gathered, _she was in on it with the sugar whatever-he-was, which means so is the other man. My guess was right they are large, and I have a few ideas as to what they are._

CHARLES: The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir. It literally vanished.  
GREEN: Right. Inside. Tell me everything.  
GANESH: Err, sir?  
(Ganesh holds out a Ministerial Red Box.)  
GANESH: The emergency protocols. Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion.

"Oh yeah, 'cause those are gonna help so much," Amy said sarcastically.

GREEN: Right. Good. _(fart!)_ Blimey. Pardon me.

Everyone was starting to notice the farts now.

(Green takes the Red Box.)  
GREEN: Let's work, eh?  
(Green follows Margaret and Charles into the Cabinet Room and puts the Box down on the table. They all start laughing.)

"Why are they laughing?" Bill asked with a confused look on her face. "I don't see anything funny."

River on the other hand, was pleased at having her theory confirmed.

 **[Outside the Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: And where do you think you're going?  
DOCTOR: Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all.

The Doctors shuddered, remembering how uncomfortable they had been in that room.

ROSE: Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering.  
DOCTOR: Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect.

"Maybe a bit too perfect," River muttered under her breath, causing Eleven to beam at the brilliant deduction skills of his future wife.

ROSE: So?  
DOCTOR: So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand.  
(David Bowie is singing Starman in the background.)  
DOCTOR: You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum.

All the companions jumped to the Doctor's defense, warming the Doctors' hearts.

ROSE: Promise you won't disappear?  
DOCTOR: Tell you what. Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later.

The companions all reminisced about the moment when they got their own key to the Tardis.

 **[Powell Estate]**

WOMAN: Oi, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!  
(Mickey has gone out onto his balcony to check on the state of his trainers, and sees the Doctor walking back to the Tardis.)  
MICKEY: Oh my God!

Mickey cringes in anticipation of the embarrassment to come.

(Mickey runs out of his flat as the Doctor goes inside the Tardis. It dematerializes.)  
MICKEY: Wait, Doctor! Doctor!  
(Mickey crashes full pelt into the corrugated iron shutters of the empty shop behind where the Tardis was parked. He tries to walk away nonchalantly.

Everyone burst into laughter at the poor man, causing him to attempt to hide his face in his wife's hair. It didn't work as she was laughing uncontrollably as well.

(The Tardis is not happy in flight. The Doctor resorts to a large hammer to sort things out.)

Suddenly an enormous pillow nailed Nine right in the face. He looks for the origin of the pillow and sees the Physician smirking.

"No one hits my Tardis," she said with a slight edge in her voice.

"I'm you! It's our Tardis!" Nine tried to defend himself, but to no avail.

"No one hits my Tardis," she said, with more force and a deadly look in her eyes.

"Alright, alright," he sighs, before grudgingly saying, "I'm sorry I hit the Tardis."

The Physician gives him a thankful smile, with something hidden underneath that no one else can decipher, but has Nine giving her a fearful gulp.

 **[Outer office]**

(The MP for Flydale North brings the Junior Secretary a cup.)  
HARRIET: I bet no one's bought you a coffee.

"That was nice of her," Bill said, trying to ease the tension in room after that little confrontation.  
GANESH: Thank you.  
HARRIET: Pleasure.  
GANESH: You still can't go in.

"Never mind," Bill sighed.

HARRIET: Damn. You've seen through my cunning plan.  
GANESH: Look, I'm sorry. It's just impossible.  
HARRIET: Not even for two minutes? I don't get many chances to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the Babes, just a faithful back bencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful. Nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away. I need to enter this paper.

"True," River agreed with a sigh. She still hadn't figured out what was going on.

(The trio leave the Cabinet Room.)  
HARRIET: Oh, Mister Green, sir. I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next Cabinet agenda?  
GREEN: What is it?  
HARRIET: Cottage hospitals. I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals do not have to be excluded from centers of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency. Tiny little place, you wouldn't know it, but it's given me a chance to

"That'll work," Ten said suddenly. At everyone's incredulous look, he defensively said, "What it will!"

GREEN: By all the saints, get some perspective, woman! I'm busy.  
(Ganesh grabs his jacket and follows the trio out. Harriet goes into the Cabinet Room and closes the door. She puts her proposal in the Red Box then notices the Emergency Protocols file inside it. She sits down and starts reading.)

"Smart woman," River said in appreciation. Everyone nodded their agreement.

 **[Albion Hospital]**

(Doctor Sato is looking over her notes when she hears a thumping noise coming from Body Cold Chamber number 5.)  
(The Tardis, meanwhile, has parked herself in a store room. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the door lock.)  
DOCTOR: Shush!

"Did you just shush the sonic screwdriver?" Rory asked incredulously.

"Shut up," the Doctors said, except for the Physician, who said, "Good point, Rory." The other Doctors gave her a slightly dirty look, which she returned with a dirty look of her own.

(Toshiko moves towards the chamber, and the thumping turns into a knocking.)

 **[Meeting room]**

(The Doctor walks into a room full of Red Berets - the Parachute Regiment. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, then the soldiers grab their weapons and point them at the Doctor. Something bursts out of the cooler, and Toshiko screams. Everyone hears it.)  
DOCTOR: Defense plan delta! Come on. Move! Move!  
(He leads the Marines out of the room at the double.)

Everyone is suddenly reminded that the Doctor they know and love is also a war-hardened soldier. The one's who know him as Ten or Eleven having a bigger jolt of realization than the ones who know Nine or Twelve.

 **[Mortuary]**

(Toshiko is cowering by her desk. She has a cut on her head.)  
SATO: It's alive!

The companions wince in sympathy for the poor woman. The first alien is always the hardest to swallow. What they didn't know was this was not her first alien, but the details don't matter.

DOCTOR: (to the soldiers) Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown.  
SATO: My god. It's still alive.  
DOCTOR: (Once again to the soldiers) Do it!

"Oh my god," Jack said realizing something for the first time, "Tosh met you before me."

 **[Albion Hospital]**

SOLDIER: Mick, Terry, side rooms. Now!  
SOLDIER 2: Clear!  
SOLDIER 3: Front clear!  
SOLDIER: Keep it moving!  
SOLDIER 4: Clear!

 **[Mortuary]**

SATO: I swear it was dead.  
DOCTOR: Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?  
(Metal clattering.)  
DOCTOR: It's still here.  
(The Doctor gestures to a soldier outside the door to come in and kneel by Toshiko. Behind a filing cabinet is - a pig?)

River raises a skeptical eyebrow. Evidently the crash was a diversion, but what was it diverting attention from?

DOCTOR: Hello.  
(The pig runs out on its hind legs. It is wearing a spacesuit.)  
DOCTOR: Don't shoot!

 **[Corridor]**

(Another soldier shoots the pig.)

Everyone winces at the unnecessary death of the poor pig.

DOCTOR: What did you do that for? It was scared! It was scared.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ASQUITH [OC]: I've got the White House phoning me direct because Downing Street won't answer their calls. This is outrageous! We haven't even started the vaccination program. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom.  
(Harriet packs away the documents and runs to the door to see the General berating the Trio in the outer office. She looks for somewhere to hide.)  
GREEN [OC]: Well, it has all been a bit of a shock.  
ASQUITH [OC]: This is the greatest crisis in modern history and you've done nothing. Your behaviour has been shameful, sir. You're supposed to be in charge. We need positive leadership. The capital's ground to a halt.

River narrows her eyes in concentration, _That's what they want, isn't it? The world in chaos, so that they can takeover or maybe start a war. I need more information, I still don't even know what species they are._

(Harriet disappears into a cupboard just as they enter.)  
ASQUITH: Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action, and what have you been doing? Nothing.  
GREEN: Sorry. Sorry. I thought I was Prime Minister now.  
ASQUITH: Only by default.  
GREEN: Oh, that's not fair. I've been having such fun.

That gets him a few strange looks. How would anyone think an alien invasion is fun?

ASQUITH: You think this is fun?  
GREEN: It's a hoot, this job.  
MARGARET: Honestly, it's super.  
(Fart!)  
CHARLES: Oh, excuse me. (Fart!) Oh!  
(The trio laugh, and fart almost continuously from now on. Very juvenile.)

 _Slitheen,_ River finally figures out, _the most prominent family on Raxacoricofallapatorius! But they wouldn't want to take over the Earth,_ she thought confusedly, before coming to a realization, _They would want to destroy it, and sell the remains._ She sat back confident in her guess of what was going on. Now all she had to do was wait and see if she was right.

ASQUITH: What's going on here? Where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been airlifted in?  
GREEN: I cancelled it. They'd only get in the way. Oh, there I go.  
MARGARET: Oh, and me! I'm shaking my booty.

By now everyone was either raising their eyebrow at the juvenile behavior or completely grossed out.

ASQUITH: Sir! Under Section Five of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command. And by God, I'll put this country under marshal law if I have to.  
GREEN: Oh, I'm scared. I mean, that's hair-raising. I mean, literally. Look!  
(Green unzips his forehead, and a blue light pours out. Margaret and Charles do the same. Harriet watches, horrified, as we hear blubbery, squelching noises. There is a whumph! And General Asquith screams.)

Everyone winces.

 **[Mortuary]**

SATO: I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth.  
DOCTOR: More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke.  
SATO: So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor?  
(He's gone.)

 **[Corridor]**

SATO: Doctor?  
(The Tardis dematerializes.)

The companions all shook their head fondly. That was just like their Doctor, leaving without saying goodbye.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

JACKIE: Here's to the Martians!  
ALL: The Martians!

"They're not Martians," Eleven sulked.

"To humans, everything is a Martian," Twelve said angrily, but he too was secretly sulking.

(Except Rose. Mickey enters.)  
TELEVISION: Crisis, with no head of state. Since the Royal Family have been evacuated  
ROSE: I was going to come and see you.  
RU: Someone owes Mickey an apology.  
ROSE: I'm sorry.  
RU: Not you.  
JACKIE: Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?  
TELEVISION: Designate, though she insists this was a matter for the electorate.

"What?" was the general consensus of the room.

 **[The Tyler's kitchen]**

MICKEY: You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you.

Rose gave Mickey a guilty look, but he just laughed and said, "I got over that a while ago, Rose. It's fine, I promise."

ROSE: I didn't think I'd be gone so long.  
MICKEY: And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back.  
JACKIE: Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?  
(Mickey shuts the serving hatch and the door.)  
MICKEY: Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?  
JACKIE: Tell me now.  
MICKEY: I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away.  
ROSE: What do you mean?

Ten winced at the hurt look on his precious Rose's face. He had meant to be back before she noticed.

MICKEY: He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be.

Rose, Nine, and Ten turned pink at the implications.

(Rose runs out of the flat. Mickey follows her.)

 **[Powell Estate]**

ROSE: He wouldn't just go, he promised me.

Ten turned to Rose when he heard the doubt in her voice, and earnestly said, "You know I would never leave you voluntarily, right?"

Rose shook her head at her silly Doctor, assuring him that, of course she knew, how could she not.

Nine, however, was focusing solely on the "voluntarily" in that sentence. Did that mean his Rose would be taken from him? He didn't even realize he had called her his.

MICKEY: Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it.  
ROSE: He would have said.  
JACKIE: What're you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?  
MICKEY: Ho, ho, ho. He's vamoosed.  
ROSE: He's not, because he gave me this. (She held out her Tardis key) He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than

The Doctors all look a bit touched at the girl's words, but all for different reasons. Nine because she was defending him when she didn't have to; Ten because he cared for her; and Eleven, Twelve and the Physician were reminiscing on the good times they had with Rose as Ten. Even if they all felt what they felt for different reasons, the main reason throughout all of them was a great love for their companions, past and future.

(The Tardis key begins to glow and the Tardis starts to materialize.)  
ROSE: I said so. Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just, Mum, go. Oh, blimey.

Nine winced at his horrendous timing.

(The Tardis materializes.)  
MICKEY: Huh?  
JACKIE: How'd you do that, then?

The future companions were horrified at the prospect of Jackie Tyler learning of the Tardis, but the ones who knew the blonde woman just shook their heads fondly at her theatrics.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: All right, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look  
ROSE: My mum's here.  
DOCTOR: Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic.  
MICKEY: You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you.  
DOCTOR: You see what I mean? Domestic.

"Ow!"

MICKEY: I bet you don't even remember my name.  
DOCTOR: Ricky.  
MICKEY: It's Mickey.  
DOCTOR: No, it's Ricky.  
MICKEY: I think I know my own name.  
DOCTOR: You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?

"Ow!"

"Quit being rude and I'll stop hitting you," Clara explained haughtily.

"If you're going to hit me every time a past me is rude, I'll have a bump the size of the inside of the Tardis on my head," Twelve complained grumpily.

Clara tried to think of a solution, and came up with a plan. The Doctor would get one hit for being rude per episode, but only for being absolutely horrendously rude.

ROSE: Mum, don't! Don't go anywhere. Don't start a fight!

 **[Powell Estate]**

(Rose follows Jackie out of the Tardis.)  
ROSE: Mum, it's not like that. He's not. I'll be up in a minute. Hold on!

Every companion who had gone through something similar with their own families or friends winced in sympathy for the predicament the blonde had gotten herself into.

 **[Tardis]**

ROSE: That was a real spaceship.  
DOCTOR: Yep.  
ROSE: So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?  
MICKEY: Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert.  
DOCTOR: Good point! So, what're they up to?

"That was a compliment!" Mickey exclaimed in surprise, "I thought you didn't like me, boss." He smirked, raising an eyebrow at Nine and Ten.

Nine fumbled for something to say, but ended up just angrily saying, "Shut up, Ricky."

Ten, on the other hand, just shook his head fondly at his old companion's theatrics.

 **[Jackie's bedroom]**

TELEVISION: As the crisis continues and the government shows remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country. There've been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hutchinson.  
HITCHINSON [on TV]: Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help.  
(Jackie dials 08081 570980. It is 23:08. She gets the busy tone twice.)  
TELEVISION: Tonight, the London Institute of Psychology is warning that incidents of violence

"Oh, so that's how that happened!" Rose realized. The others looked at her funny, but didn't get anything more out of her.

JACKIE: Yes, I've seen one. I really have. An alien. And she's with him. My daughter, she's with him. And she's not safe. Oh, my God. She's not safe. I've seen an alien, and I know his name. He's called the Doctor.  
(Someone or something types The Doctor into a database search.)  
JACKIE: It's a box. A blue box. She called it a Tardis.  
(Over in Downing Street, an alarm goes off. Ganesh's computer screen is flashing Red Alert - The Doctor.)

"That's not good," Jack winced as he said this, thinking it was Torchwood. As did everyone else that knew about what Torchwood was going to do.

 **[Tardis]**

MICKEY: So, what're you doing down there?  
DOCTOR: Ricky.  
MICKEY: Mickey.  
DOCTOR: Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?

Clara really wanted to give Twelve a good whack on the back of the head, but refrained. She had, after all, already used her "Whack of the Episode" earlier.

MICKEY: I suppose not.  
DOCTOR: Well, shut it, then.

"He would probably be able to understand the basics of time travel, if you would take the time to explain it to him," River gave Nine an indignant look. From what she had seen, Mickey was quite smart.

"I didn't have the time to explain the complexities of time travel to a novice," Nine grumbled.

River had to agree that they were strapped for time.

MICKEY: Some friend you've got.  
ROSE: He's winding you up. I am sorry.  
MICKEY: Okay.  
ROSE: I am, though.  
MICKEY: Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year.  
ROSE: It's only been a few days for me. I don't know. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you.  
MICKEY: Not enough time to miss me, then?  
ROSE: I did miss you.  
MICKEY: I missed you.  
ROSE: So, err, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?  
MICKEY: No.  
ROSE: Okay.  
MICKEY: Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you.  
ROSE: Right.  
MICKEY: So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?

Martha looked away from the screen, uncomfortable with how close her husband was to the blonde companion. Mickey noticed and gave her a small kiss on the cheek as a silent assurance not to worry, he loved her and only her.

DOCTOR: Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on.  
(The Doctor looks at the trajectory on the monitor.)  
DOCTOR: That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed.

River was very pleased to see her theory being confirmed.

ROSE: What does that mean?  
DOCTOR: It means it came from Earth in the first place. It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(A floppy dummy of Oliver Charles is thrown over the back of a chair, and General Asquith stands up.)  
ASQUITH: What do you think? How's the compression? I think I've got too much ballast round the middle. (Fart!) Oh, that's better.  
MARGARET: We've really got to fix the gas exchange. It's getting ridiculous.  
GREEN: I don't know. Seems very human to me.

The humans of the room gave an offended look and huffed.

GREEN: Ah, better get rid of his skin.  
ASQUITH: Shame. I quite enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress, and a young farmer.

The Physician sneered at the alien in disgust. She had no idea how anyone could be so jovial and joke about someone who had died. Sometimes, she wished she could just stay in Winter's universe and cuddle with her darling for the rest of eternity, but, alas, Winter had duties and she couldn't stay still for that long.

(He throws the skin and suit into Harriet's cupboard.)

Everyone winces at the idea of the poor man being discarded like a piece of garbage.

ASQUITH: God, I was busy.  
GREEN: Back to work.  
ASQUITH: I have an army to command.  
MARGARET: Careful, now. We're not there yet.

 **[Outer office]**

GANESH: General Asquith! Sir, we've had a priority alarm. It's code nine. Confirmed code nine.  
ASQUITH: Right. Good.

The Physician smirked, thinking about the joke Winter would have made about Nine being a code nine. It would have been something like, "Would Ten be a code ten then and Eleven be a code eleven?" Even though it would have been corny and not all that funny, she would have laughed and shaken her head fondly. She sighed and ran her hand over her face tiredly. She missed her darling.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(Harriet comes out of the cupboard to listen.)  
ASQUITH [OC] Code nine, huh?

 **[Outer office]**

ASQUITH: Which would mean?

"Oh, give yourself away, why don't ya!" Jack screamed at the screen angrily. At the strange looks he got, he explained, "Everyone who's anyone knows what a code nine means." That got even more strange looks, but he didn't explain how he knew that.

GANESH: In the event of the emergency protocols being activated, we've got software that automatically searches all communications for key words, and one of those words is Doctor. I think we've found him, sir.  
MARGARET: What sort of doctor? Who is he?  
GANESH: Well, evidently he's some sort of expert in extra-terrestrial affairs. The ultimate expert. And we need him, sir. We need him here right now!

The Doctors preened at being called the ultimate alien expert. The companions rolled their eyes at their egotistical Doctors.

 **[Tardis]**

(Mickey and Rose are channel-hopping on the scanner.)  
MICKEY: How many channels do you get?  
DOCTOR: All the basic packages.  
MICKEY: You get sports channels?  
DOCTOR: Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot.

"Is that all you think about?" Martha asked her husband teasingly.

"Shut up," Mickey said, lovingly nudging her shoulder with his own.

WOMAN [OC]: It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space.  
DOCTOR: UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people.

"That they are," Jack said, once again not explaining how he knew that.

ROSE: How do you know them?  
MICKEY: 'Cos he's worked for them. Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead.

The Physician flinched at the reminder of how many were dead because of her and barely held back tears from the guilt. Rory noticed and put his arm around her comfortingly. Once he had managed to calm the woman, he gave Mickey a deadly glare. Mickey was quick to apologize for what he had said out of anger.

DOCTOR: That's nice. Good boy, Ricky.

"I am sorry, boss," Mickey said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"It's fine," The Doctors all said a bit too quickly.

ROSE: If you know them, why don't you go and help?  
DOCTOR: They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days.

"That's an understatement," Every companion who had been through a regeneration with the Doctor said at the same time.

DOCTOR: Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And err, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving.

"Wait for it," Amy said holding up a finger.

MICKEY: Where to?  
DOCTOR: The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship.

 **[Powell Estate]**

(They walk out of the Tardis and straight into a helicopter spotlight.)  
POLICE: Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads.

"There it is," the redhead said with a knowing smirk. "Knew it wouldn't take long for the undercover plan to fall apart."

(Police cars and Saxon armoured personnel carriers surround them. Mickey runs. Jackie comes out of the block of flats.)  
JACKIE: Rose!  
(Soldiers grab Jackie.)  
JACKIE: Rose!  
(Mickey hides behind some dustbins and the soldiers run straight past.)  
POLICE: Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest.  
DOCTOR: Take me to your leader.

"Really? Really!" Clara exclaimed, "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

Twelve simply shrugged in response.

 **[Police car]**

ROSE: This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago.  
DOCTOR: We're not being arrested, we're being escorted.  
ROSE: Where to?  
DOCTOR: Where'd you think? Downing Street.  
ROSE: You're kidding.  
DOCTOR: I'm not.  
ROSE: 10 Downing Street?  
DOCTOR: That's the one.  
ROSE: Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street? How come?  
DOCTOR: I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, err, noticed.

"Once again, an understatement," every companion said.

ROSE: Now they need you?  
DOCTOR: Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?  
ROSE: Patrick Moore?

"Good job," Amy said smirking, "Can't have his head getting to big, now can we. It might not fit in the Tardis soon."

The Doctors looked offended, but shrugged and conceded.

DOCTOR: Apart from him.  
ROSE: Oh, don't you just love it.  
DOCTOR: I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?  
ROSE: How should I know? I missed a year.

 **[Downing Street]**

(The Doctor mugs for the cameras outside Number Ten.)  
ROSE: Oh, my God.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

JACKIE: So, she's all right then? She's not in any trouble?  
STRICKLAND: Well, all I can say is, your daughter and her companion might be in a position to help the country. We'll need to know how she made contact with this man, if he is a man.  
(The fat policeman sits down, and his stomach makes an unpleasant noise.)

They could all tell that this was not going to end well.

STRICKLAND: Oof. Right, off you go then. I need to talk with Mrs. Tyler on my own, thank you.  
(A policeman and woman leave.)

 **[Waiting room]**

(Harriet comes downstairs and shows her ID to an armed policeman.)  
HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North.

"She loves flashing that card at people doesn't she?" Jack smirked, thinking back on his own interactions with the woman.

Everyone who knew her agreed heartily.

(She mingles with the UNIT officers and large people in the room.)  
GANESH: Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times.  
(He hands one to the Doctor.)  
GANESH: Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance.  
DOCTOR: I don't go anywhere without her.  
GANESH: You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside.  
DOCTOR: She's staying with me.  
GANESH: Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact.  
ROSE: It's all right. You go.  
HARRIET: Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?  
DOCTOR: Sure.  
GANESH: Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?  
HARRIET: I just need a word in private.  
DOCTOR: I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble.  
(The Doctor leaves.)  
GANESH: You haven't got clearance. Now leave it. (to Rose) I'm going to have to leave you with security.  
HARRIET: It's all right. I'll look after her. Let me be of some use. (to Rose) Walk with me. Just keep walking.

 **[Entrance hall]**

HARRIET: That's right. Don't look round. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North.  
(In the briefing room, the Doctor rapidly scans the prepared papers.)  
HARRIET: This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?  
ROSE: Why do you want to know?  
(Harriet starts crying.)

Donna winced in sympathy. She had, after all, gone through something similar on her first adventure off planet.

 **[Briefing room]**

ASQUITH: Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant.  
DOCTOR: Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there. You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?

River smirked, she was starting to internally gloat that she had figured out what was going on so early.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

HARRIET: They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!  
ROSE: It's all right. I believe you. It's, it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it.  
(Rose starts searching the room. She opens a different cupboard and a man's body falls out.)

Everyone winces at the body of the Prime Minister. So that was where he had been.

ROSE: Oh, my God! Is that the  
GANESH: Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander. Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!

 **[Briefing room]**

DOCTOR: If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get? Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap.

For once, River wasn't pleased at having been right. She was incredibly worried for her husband.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

MARGARET: Oh! Has someone been naughty?

The Physician sneers angrily at the woman.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

JACKIE: It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?  
STRICKLAND: That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is trouble. And that's my job.  
(The Police Commissioner removes his cap to undo the zip across his forehead. Blue light fills the flat.)  
STRICKLAND: Eliminating trouble.

Even though she knew her mother would get out of this just fine, Rose was visibly distressed at seeing her mom in danger and was silently pleading with her mom to get out of there.

 **[Cabinet office]**

GANESH: That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!  
MARGARET: And who told you that, hmm? Me.  
(Margaret reaches up to her hairline.)

The atmosphere of the room was tense with worry.

 **[Briefing room]**

DOCTOR: This is all about us. Alien experts. The only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room.  
(Green farts.)  
DOCTOR: Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?  
GREEN: Would you rather silent but deadly?  
(General Asquith removes his cap and unzips his forehead. As Green laughs, the room fills with blue light and an alien starts to wriggle out of the skin suit. In the Cabinet office, Margaret does the same, flexing her three long fingers in relief.  
Jackie comes out of her kitchen to see a similar sight. The aliens stand nearly eight feet tall with incongruous large black eyes in small baby faces.)  
ASQUITH: We are the Slitheen.

Jack's eyes widened when he heard that name. Maybe he was finally going to know what happened between the Doctor and Margaret the Slitheen.

River, on the other hand, had only one thought, and that was that she had never hated being right more than she did at this very moment.

(Margaret grabs Ganesh in her massive talons and pushes him up the wall.)

Everyone winced.

GREEN: Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies.  
(Green holds up a remote activation switch, and the ID cards emit electric shocks to their wearers, including the Doctor.)

The episode ends.

The room is in an uproar over the cliffhanger, even though they know the Doctor and Rose get out of this okay.

A sharp whistle sounds through the room. Everyone turns to the source of the sound, the Physician. "Alright, everybody calm down." When the room had quieted, she continued, "That was episode four aptly named Aliens of London. The next episode will continue where this one left off, but you will have to wait. We will be taking a small break to go to the bathroom and refill our snacks. Is that understood." At everyone's affirmation, she said, "Great. I will see you later." She waltzed out of the room, leaving a stunned group.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **I just wanted to thank you all once again for the Favorites, Follows, and nice comments. It means so much to me that you all enjoy my writing. So I will see you later, Bye!**_


	7. Chapter Six: World War Three

Chapter Six: World War Three

"Everyone is here, correct?" the Physician asked, settling down in her place next to Rory. When she got everyone's confirmation that they were indeed present, she continued, "Okay, so we will be starting episode five. When we left off there was some trouble, so let's see what happens now." She made a grand gesture towards the screen, then settled down in her seat, eating away at her chips.

Everyone immediately focuses on the screen, anxious to see what happened next.

 **[Briefing room]**

(The Doctor manages to rip off his ID card.)  
DOCTOR: Deadly to humans, maybe.

His ever so loving companions breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the Doctor making quips. He wouldn't be making fun if he wasn't okay, or at least, they didn't think he would be.

(And pushes it against the collar around the neck of the revealed Slitheen, enveloping it and Green with the electricity. They don't like it.  
Neither does the one in the Cabinet Office or Jackie's kitchen. The Doctor, Rose and Harriet Jones make their escapes, but Jackie is still trapped.)

Rose let out the breath she had been holding relieved that her mother was not in immediate danger anymore. Though she was still quite tense since the slitheen was still in the same room as her mother.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(Mickey enters.)  
MICKEY: Jackie!  
(He smashes a chair across the back of the Slitheen, grabs Jackie's hands and pulls her out of the kitchen. He stops in the doorway to take a photograph of it on his mobile phone.)

Rose shot a grateful look at her former boyfriend for saving her mother from the alien. He gave the blonde a look that said, "Don't mention it," but was secretly touched that she had thanked him.

 **[Entrance hall]**

DOCTOR: Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them. They're inside Downing Street. Come on!  
(The armed police follow him.)

River and Jack winced. This was not going to end well for him.

 **[Briefing room]**

(Green manages to pull the ID card off 'Asquith's' collar, and the electricity stops.)  
ASQUITH: Reinstate my disguise. Hurry up! Hurry! Hurry!  
(Green helps the Slitheen into the General's skin suit.)

At this point, no one was pleased, and everyone could see where this is going.

 **[Corridor]**

HARRIET: No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them.

"No, don't go back," Rory yelled angrily at the woman on the screen. "She's right behind you." He shook his head, rolling his eyes at her stupidity.

"They might need the protocols though," Amy pointed out to her irate fiancé.

"Yeah, maybe," Rory conceded, "but 'maybe' is not worth risking your life over," He countered angrily.

(The Slitheen chases them through a series of rooms, smashing through the oak doors.)

"See," Rory pointed to the screen triumphantly, "they didn't even get the protocols."

Amy had to admit he had a point.

 **[Briefing room]**

(The Doctor enters with the police just as Green finishes getting Asquith into his skin suit.)  
GREEN: Where have you been? I called for help. I sounded the alarm. There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed.  
(The policemen check the bodies. The Welsh Sergeant speaks.)  
PRICE: I think they're all dead.

"No duh," the Physician said, rolling her eyes at the man's stupidity.

The humans of the room looked at her in shock. They couldn't believe that she, the one Doctor they thought was fairly sweet and polite, had just said something so disrespectful of the men and women who had just died.

The Physician noticed their stares, and shrugged nonchalantly, not really caring what they thought. Winter's absence was starting to effect of her mental state. She hoped her darling would be back soon.

GREEN: That's what I'm saying. He did it! That man there.  
DOCTOR: I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise.

"That's never going to work," River pointed out.

That's never going to work, is it?  
POLICEMAN 2: No.

"Told you."

"And how would you know, hmm?" Nine asked annoyed by the woman.

"Tried it a few times, never worked for me, so it definitely wouldn't work for you." she shrugged, leaving it at that, and not saying anything else, even with prodding from her husband.

DOCTOR: Fair enough.  
(The Doctor runs.)

"Ah, the running," Donna reminisced not so fondly, "Always with the running you." She gave Ten a pointed look as she said this.

Every single companion put in their agreement, while the Doctors just smiled.

 **[Corridor]**

(And gets trapped between two lots of armed police.)  
ASQUITH: Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute this man.

"You better get out of there, Doc," Jack said as if the Doctor on the screen could hear him.

"Wait for it," Ten said holding up a finger.

DOCTOR: Well, now, yes, you see, er, the thing is, if I was you, if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice.  
(Ding! and a door opens behind the Doctor.)  
DOCTOR: Don't stand them against the lift!  
(He gets in and goes up.)

"There it is!" Ten exclaimed, pleased with himself.

"I'll have to remember that," Nine grumbled, not pleased that he didn't know what was going to happen anymore.

It was only then that everyone realized that last episode was the one Nine came from. They all winced at the prospect of seeing themselves do things they hadn't done yet. They realized, however, that they would soon have to, except, of course, for Martha and Mickey who were at the end of their timelines with the Doctor, but they didn't know that.

 **[First floor]**

(The lift doors open and the Slitheen is there.)  
DOCTOR: Hello!  
(He distracts the Slitheen so that Rose and Harriet can get past behind it, then closes the lift door again.)

"Smart," River complimented with a smirk, winking at her husband.

The Doctors all preened at the praise.

 **[Sitting room]**

(A large settee, a large drinks cabinet, and a folding screen by the window to keep out the draughts filled the small room.)  
ROSE: Hide!  
(Rose hides behind the cabinet, Harriet behind the screen.)

Everyone winced at their horrid hiding spots.

 _I mean really,_ the Physician thought to herself exasperatedly, _Harriet was basically hiding behind the curtains like a child who wasn't very good at hide-and-seek, it was ridiculous really._

(The Doctor leaves the lift on the second floor.)

 **[Corridor by the lift]**

ASQUITH: I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine. You will stay where you are. You will disregard all previous instructions. You will take your orders directly from me.  
(The empty lift arrives and Asquith heads for it. Green follows him.)  
PRICE: Mister Green, sir. I'm sorry but you've got to come with me. We should evacuate the entire building.  
GREEN: Sergeant, have you read the Emergency Protocols?  
PRICE: No, sir.  
GREEN: Then don't question me. Seal off Number 10, secure the ground floor, and if the Doctor makes it downstairs - shoot on sight!

The Physician scowled at the rude pompous man. She hated him with every fiber of her being, parading around in a dead man's skin, pretending it was his own and barking out order to his unknowing subordinates. It was disgusting.

(Green closes the lift doors.)  
PRICE: Well, you heard him. Move out!

 **[Lift]**

ASQUITH: Let the sport begin. (Fart!)

Everyone was even more disgusted than before by the horrid, fat man's gas, since they now knew what it meant.

GREEN: I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange. I need to be naked.  
ASQUITH: Rejoice in it. Your body is magnificent.

"Okay, that sounds bad, even for me," Jack said, with a strange look on his face. Everyone agreed.

(Green unzips his body suit, then Asquith does likewise.)

 **[Sitting room]**

(The Slitheen Margaret enters.)  
MARGARET: Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips.  
(Rose makes it from the cabinet to behind a curtain.)

 _Oh come now really!_ The Physician was starting to get angry at this point, _Now she's actually hiding behind the curtain! Oh yeah, really good hiding spot you got there, Rose. I mean, there aren't that many options, but come on, really?_ Winter had better get back soon, her wife was becoming increasingly angry.

 **[Corridor]**

(The Doctor runs down the staircase and hides as the lift arrives on this floor. Two naked Slitheen walk out.)  
GREEN: It does us good to hunt. Purifies the blood.

Everyone scowled at the men, angry that they were talking so casually about hunting their blonde friend. Rose was scowling as well but for different reasons. She was angry that they were frightening the poor councilwoman/soon-to-be Prime Minister. She quite liked the woman, well she had liked her more before the whole thing with the Sycorax, but still.

ASQUITH: We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase.

Nine raised his eyebrow at that. What was this final phase they were talking about? He would need more information to decipher what was going on, and how he could stop it.

 **[Sitting room]**

(Slitheens Green and Asquith enter.)  
MARGARET: My brothers.  
GREEN: Happy hunting?  
MARGARET: It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink.  
ASQUITH: Sweat and fear.

The companions looked at the screen strangely. These aliens could smell fear? That was a bit weird, but they had to concede it could be useful. They didn't know how, but it must have been if these aliens could do it.

GREEN: I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones.

Rose gave a look of indignation on the woman's behalf. That was quite rude, indeed.

MARGARET: And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps.  
(Margaret pulls back the curtain. Rose screams.)

Everyone jumped at the blonde's scream of terror, causing Rose to blush in embarrassment.

HARRIET: No! Take me first! Take me!

"That was very courageous," the Physician commended begrudgingly. She was still mad about what Harriet had done after she had regenerated into her Tenth self.

Everyone put in their agreement, they were all starting to like the woman more and more.

(The Doctor bursts in with a fire extinguisher. He sprays the male Slitheen with CO2.)

"Smart," River complimented her husband's younger self, causing him to preen a bit.

DOCTOR: Out, with me!  
(Rose pulls the curtain down over Margaret.)

"Nice moves, Rosie!" Jack exclaimed, cheering for the daring escape in the process.

DOCTOR: Who the hell are you?  
HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North.  
DOCTOR: Nice to meet you.  
HARRIET: Likewise.

"Is that really the time for formalities like that?" Clara asked skeptically. No one had an answer, since it was, in fact, not the time.

(The Doctor uses up the CO2 and they run out.)

 **[Corridor]**

DOCTOR: We need to head to the Cabinet Room.  
HARRIET: The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens.  
DOCTOR: Harriet Jones, I like you.  
HARRIET: And I like you too.

"Again with the inappropriately timed pleasantries!" Clara cried out a bit angrily. "Come on, this is not the time for this! You can do it later, when you're safe!" She seemed to be forgetting that the Doctor onscreen couldn't see or hear her, but she might have not cared either way.

(The Slitheen chase our heroes through corridors and rooms.)

They were all on the edge of their seats, anxiously trying to mentally make them go faster.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(The Doctor grabs a decanter from a side table and stands in the doorway.)  
DOCTOR: One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off.  
(The Slitheen take one step back in the outer office.)  
DOCTOR: Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?  
HARRIET: They're aliens.

"Again, no duh," the Physician drawled. No one really paid her much mind, since they had realized that she was only acting this way because she was missing her wife. She had been sad and weepy before, but they figured she was just angry now.

DOCTOR: Yes. I got that, thanks.  
GREEN: Who are you, if not human?  
HARRIET: Who's not human?  
ROSE: He's not human.  
HARRIET: He's not human?

The Physician groaned, not realizing that it was the stress that was slowing Harriet's thinking, but also not caring.

DOCTOR: Can I have a bit of hush?  
HARRIET: Sorry.  
DOCTOR: So, what's the plan?  
HARRIET: But he's got a Northern accent.  
ROSE: Lots of planets have a north.

River grinned at the classic Doctor line. That's just like one of the clever lies he would use to make people shut up.

DOCTOR: I said hush. Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?  
ASQUITH: Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?

 _So,_ Nine contemplated, _not invasion, but then why put the world on red-alert? Those experts would have gathered for a weather balloon, so why do all of this._ He grumbled angrily. He was gonna need more information.

DOCTOR: Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?  
ASQUITH: The Slitheen race?  
GREEN: Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service.

That was when Nine worked it out, not onscreen obviously, but he had figured it out. Being able to see the big picture helped a lot, but now he knew their race and their plan. Internally, he laughed jovially, but externally he showed nothing, wanting to give the others a chance to work out what was going on for themselves.

DOCTOR: So, you're family.  
GREEN: A family business.  
DOCTOR: Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?  
ASQUITH: Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?  
DOCTOR: Is that what I said?

Everyone winced at his slip-up, not good.

ASQUITH: You're making it up.  
DOCTOR: Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it.  
(Harriet is clutching the Red Box.)  
HARRIET: You pass it to the left first.

"Come on!" Clara was incredibly frustrated, "this is not the time!"

Twelve attempted to calm the short-tempered woman, but to no avail, she was just too frustrated.

DOCTOR: Sorry.  
ROSE: Thanks.  
ASQUITH: Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter.  
ROSE: Don't you think we should run?  
DOCTOR: Fascinating history, Downing Street.

"Is this really the time for a history lesson?" Bill asked confusedly.

"Wait for it," Eleven said holding up a finger.

DOCTOR: Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson.

"There it is," he pointed to the screen enthusiastically, "see I know what I'm doing!" he boasted.

"Now you have to wait for it sweetie," River said mimicking her husband.

(The Doctor lifts a small panel by the door and presses a button. Metal shutters crash shut across the windows and doors.)  
DOCTOR: Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in.  
ROSE: And how do we get out?  
DOCTOR: Ah.

"There it is," River said smugly, "you never know what you're doing, sweetie."

Eleven pouted, looking very much like a child who hadn't gotten their way. It was a bit adorable, really.

 **[Outer office]**

GREEN: He's safely contained. Now, cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family. It's time we finished with this insane planet for good.

The humans of the room gave an indignant huff, annoyed that their planet had been called insane. However, they did have to admit, the human race wasn't exactly the sanest bunch, so they had a point. Could you imagine trying to deal with the entire human race all at once? It would be maddening!

 **[Downing Street]**

ANDREW MARR: And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals. That's group Captain Tennant James of the RAF, though why he's been summoned we've no idea. And that's Ewan McAllister, Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual. I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane, Chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea.  
(Apart from being larger than the average person.)

The Physician snorted, trying to contain her laughter, since she knew the only thing connecting those seemingly random people was their large body type. Some of the people walking up would have been no help at all in a real crisis situation.

 **[Entrance hall]**

(The three Slitheen are back in their body suits.)  
MARGARET: Group Captain. Delighted you could make it. We're meeting upstairs. (Fart!) That's the spirit. Off you go. Good to see you. Come on through.  
ASQUITH: Ah, Sergeant. Now that the Doctor's been neutralized, the upper levels are out of bounds to everyone.  
SERGEANT: Then who are they?  
ASQUITH: Need to know, Sergeant. Need to know.

River rolled her eyes and sneered at the man. "Need to know" sounded like he was just telling the sergeant to shut up and not think for himself. It was quite annoying to say the least, since she had been a part of many operations, with and without the Doctor, and been kept on a need to know basis.

ASQUITH: I want you to liaise with Communications. The acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world.

 **[Cloak room]**

(Sylvia goes into the blue lit toilets, while Margaret gets a coat hanger from a rack.)  
MARGARET: There you are. If you'd just like to go through and get changed.  
(She takes a skin suit off an emerging Slitheen, who used to be Group Captain James.)

At this display, the Physician was royally pissed. Those _things_ were treating what used to be living breathing human beings like coats to be discarded. In her mind, humans were some of the most brilliant creatures in the multiverse, and she had yet to meet a race as smart, resilient, and just overall great as humans in all her travels. That was saying a lot as she had been on countless trips throughout her own universe and others, thanks to Winter, and seen so many races and planets. She really did love humans the best through it all. That was why she was more than a little peeved at the display of how horrible the Slitheen family could truly be.

The humans of the room are incredibly touched to see her getting so mad on their species behalf. It was times like this that they could really see their own Doctor shine though.

MARGARET: Now, if you'd like to head down to the end of the corridor, it's first on the left.  
JAMES: Thank you.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Got anything stronger?  
MICKEY: No chance. I've seen you when you've had a few. This ain't time for a conga.

Jack goes to say something, but is immediately pelted with pillows from all sides. No one wanted to hear what the Captain had to say after that particular scene.

JACKIE: We've got to tell someone.  
MICKEY: Who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of them. I mean, this is what he does, Jacks, that Doctor bloke. Everywhere he goes, death and destruction, and he's got Rose in the middle of it.

The poor Physician was really going through the motions this episode, because at that she got this far away look in her eyes. She was remembering all of the companions she had let down. The ones that Winter couldn't save because it would mess with Winter's own timeline. The ones who had left her, the ones who had been forced to leave, and the ones who had died all came flooding back to her. She couldn't handle it without her darling, and no one noticed her breaking down because she wasn't showing anything outwardly. Winter had better get back very soon, or the Physician might do something she would regret later.

JACKIE: Has he got a great big green thing inside him, then?  
MICKEY: I wouldn't put it past him. But like it or not, he's the only person who knows how to fight these things.

The Doctors, except for the Physician, all gave Mickey an offended look. They did not have giant green beings inside them.

Mickey gave them a sheepish look, and offered up a meek, "Sorry, Boss."

JACKIE: I thought I was going to die.  
(Jackie starts crying. Mickey gives her a quick, awkward hug.)

Rose silently thanks her former boyfriend for being there for her mother when she couldn't be.

He smirked, as if saying, "Don't mention it, just doing what anyone would do."

MICKEY: Come on, yeah? If anyone's going to cry, it's going to be me. Now, you're safe in my flat, Jacks. No one's going to look for you here, especially since you hate me so much.  
JACKIE: You saved my life. God, that's embarrassing.  
MICKEY: You're telling me.  
JACKIE: He wanted me dead. And he's still out there, Mickey. That policeman. That thing.

 **[Powell Estate]**

(And back in his skin suit.)  
STRICKLAND: Right, you head off. Inform Control I have got one or two things that still need doing. I haven't quite finished with Mrs. Tyler yet.

Rose glared daggers at the man who had tried to kill her poor mum. _My mum had nothing to do with this and shouldn't have been targeted just because I'm her daughter._ Rose thought crossly.

 **[Cloak room]**

McALLISTER: Soon.  
GREEN: Oh yes, soon.  
(McAllister clumps away.)  
GREEN: Is that all of us?  
MARGARET: All the family except Sip Fel Fotch. He's found a hunt of his own.

Rory turned to the Physician, expecting to make some sort of angry comment, but she was just sitting there staring into space. He tried to get her to talk to him, but it didn't seem like she could hear him. Either that or she was just ignoring him, which didn't seem likely, since he thought he was a good friend to her. He resolved to keep an eye on her, just to make sure she was okay until her wife got back. If he couldn't help the poor woman, then her wife should be able to get her back to her normal self. _Hopefully,_ he sighed, leaning back in his seat.

GREEN: Ah!

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(The Doctor drags Ganesh's body into a small store room, where the late man is also laid out.)  
DOCTOR: What was his name?  
HARRIET: Who?  
DOCTOR: This one. The secretary or whatever he was called.  
HARRIET: I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name.

"Indra Ganesh," Ten sighed, "His name was Indra Ganesh."

Everyone resolved to never forget that name. The name of the poor man who had died too soon.

DOCTOR: Sorry. Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?  
ROSE: No. This place is antique. What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?  
DOCTOR: He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans.  
ROSE: But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside?  
DOCTOR: That's the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange.  
ROSE: Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller.

That managed to get a laugh out of the tense room, but also a round of affirmations that Rose was beautiful just the way she was. The blonde companions was quite touched by all the nice comments.

HARRIET: Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes.

"Actually," Clara started, matter-of-factly, "that is the exact time to be making jokes. You're out of immediate danger and can come up with a plan of action now, but you don't want to get so focused on this that you lose perspective of the big picture. Plus, jokes help to lighten the mood."

"Good point, Shorty," Twelve grumbles, but it's a bit lighter than usual and you can tell he's teasing his "short and bossy" companion.

Clara gives him a withering look, but there's no real heat behind it.

ROSE: Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you're friends with him.  
HARRIET: Well, that's a strange friendship.  
DOCTOR: Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?

River rolled her eyes fondly at her clueless husband. He really needed to brush up on his history every now and then.

HARRIET: Oh, hardly.  
DOCTOR: Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?  
HARRIET: Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs.  
ROSE: Hasn't it got, like, defense codes and things? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?

"Good idea, Rosie," Jack whispered conspiratorially to the blonde.

She rolled her eyes, but sunk down a bit in her seat and felt her cheeks heat up a bit from embarrassment.

HARRIET: You're a very violent young woman.  
ROSE: I'm serious. We could.  
HARRIET: Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations.  
DOCTOR: Say that again.  
HARRIET: What, about the codes?  
DOCTOR: Anything. All of it.  
HARRIET: Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN.  
ROSE: Like that's ever stopped them.  
HARRIET: Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. Is it important?

"Everything's important," the companions said at the same time as the Doctor. They knew their Doctor, he thought that even the smallest things were significant.

DOCTOR: Everything's important.  
HARRIET: If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal.

"Isn't it?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow.

ROSE: What do they want, though?  
DOCTOR: Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset.

Jack's eyes widened as he realized what the slitheen's plan was. They were going to blow up the planet and sell the remains! Even for him, that was bad.

HARRIET: Like what, gold? Oil? Water?  
DOCTOR: You're very good at this.  
HARRIET: Thank you.  
DOCTOR: Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?  
(Phone beep)  
ROSE: Oh, that's me.  
HARRIET: But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?  
ROSE: He zapped it. Super phone.

The companions smiled, reminiscing on the moment when they got their own super phone.

HARRIET: Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts.  
DOCTOR: Dead downstairs, yeah.  
ROSE: It's Mickey.  
DOCTOR: Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy.  
ROSE: Yeah, he's not so stupid after all.  
(Mickey has sent them a photo of a Slitheen.)

Everyone was about to start complimenting Mickey on how smart it was of him to take that picture, when suddenly the door slammed open. Shocking everyone, there was winter on the other side, completely out of breath. It looked like she had run all the way here from where ever she had been.

"Doctor!" the distraught white-bluenette cried when she saw her wife's state. In three huge steps she was kneeling before her love, with her hands on either side of the woman's face. "Come on, love, look at me." She gently lifted her wife's chin so that their eyes met. "That's better, now I can see you gorgeous chocolate brown eyes," she whispered gently. "I'm sorry I left, my love. I should have been here to help you and cuddle with you," sighing, she realized she was barely having any effect on the Physician, who was still staring blankly into nothing. Turning to the other occupants of the room, she began, "I need to take my wife somewhere private for a little while. We should be back by the end of this episode, but don't count on it." she gently lifted her love into her arms in a sort of bridal style, before continuing, "Just continue watching, and we'll be back soon. I'm going to leave my little sister Melinda to watch with you." With that she strode out of the room.

Moments later, a ginger woman walked in. She was dressed pretty casually, wearing a purple hoodie, worn blue jeans, and beat-up light purple converse. She grinned, her emerald green eyes lighting up, "Hello, Doctors and companions. My name is Melinda, but you can call me Mel or Lin, whichever you prefer. I will be watching this with you until my big sis gets back." She clapped her hands together in a determined manner, "So, any questions about what just happened?"

"How did Winter know the Physician wasn't doing very well?" Rory asked, confused as to how the woman had known from where ever she was that she was needed.

"Oh, that's an easy one," Mel chirped. "They're Mates." She said this as if it cleared up everything, which it did not. At everyone's confused looks, she continued, "Mate is a term that they made up, but it basically means that they can feel each other's emotions from anywhere in the multiverse, they can communicate telepathically from any distance, and they can find each other anywhere, no matter which universe they're in. They're connected on a level that most couples could only attain to be. Anymore questions?" she asked after she had cleared up the whole Mate thing.

"Yeah," Martha started, "If you and Winter are sisters, then why do you look nothing alike?" Her inner doctor was coming out.

"Oh yeah," Mel said, smiling softly before she continued, "Win and I call each other sisters, but we're not related biologically. The reason we call each other sisters is that we were both created, not born."

"What do you mean created?" Ten asked curiously.

Mel took a moment to think of the best way to answer that question. "Well, Winter was created over a millennia ago to protect the multiverse by our creator, the Author. I was the trial run, to make sure that mum could actually create someone that powerful." She waited to see if anyone had something else to ask.

No one had any more questions so the show resumed. Though everyone did have a heavy heart. Everyone felt horrible that they hadn't noticed the Physician's deteriorating state. They would just have to wait for them to get back and apologize to the eldest Doctor.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(Mickey is on the phone.)  
MICKEY: No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!  
JACKIE: I could've died!

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ROSE: Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me.  
(The Doctor takes Rose's phone.)  
DOCTOR: Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: It's Mickey, and why should I?  
DOCTOR [OC]: Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(Mickey is hacking into the UNIT website.)  
MICKEY: It says password.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(The Doctor plugs the mobile phone into the conference phone speaker.)  
DOCTOR: Say again.  
MICKEY: It's asking for the password.  
DOCTOR: Buffalo. Two Fs, one L.

Melinda raised an eyebrow at that, and thought, _Was that really the best password for a website run by the government?_

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: So, what's that website?  
MICKEY: All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

MICKEY [OC]: They just kept us in the dark.  
DOCTOR: Mickey, you were born in the dark.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

ROSE [OC]: Oh, leave him alone.  
MICKEY: Thank you. Password again.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Just repeat it every time.  
(Mickey hands the phone to Jackie.)  
DOCTOR: Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?

 _Oh, come now, really? That isn't very safe now is it?_ Mel thought, barely restraining the urge to face palm.

HARRIET: You said to gather the experts, to kill them.  
DOCTOR: That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London.  
ROSE: The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

ROSE [OC]: What would they do that for?

 _That was a good question. What exactly was there plan,_ was the thought on the mind of everyone who didn't already know.

JACKIE: Oh, listen to her.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ROSE: At least I'm trying.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

JACKIE [OC]: Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked

All of the sudden, her mother's next words came flooding back to her, and Rose couldn't help but be glad that the Physician wasn't present to hear them.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: In the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell

"To be fair, I don't think the Slitheen are from hell," Eleven said, trying to be helpful. However, at everyone's looks, he quickly said, "Shutting up, now," and zipped his lips.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

JACKIE [OC]: In my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth.  
ROSE: I told you what happened.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

JACKIE [OC]: And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?

The Doctors winced, they would never be able to promise their companions safety. They could try and keep them safe, but that wasn't always enough.

The companions saw the wince, no matter that their Doctors had tried to hid it, and immediately started to reassure them. It was, after all, their choice to travel with him and put their lives on the line. They had never been forced to travel with him, and he always gave them the choice to leave, even though it hurt him when they did.

There was, however, one thing they all agreed upon. They were all glad that the Physician was not present to hear that, especially Mel. She knew the woman would not have been able to handle hearing Jackie's accusing tone or question.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ROSE: I'm fine.  
JACKIE: Is she safe?

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?

 **[Cabinet Room]**

JACKIE [OC]: Well, what's the answer?

"No," the Doctors sighed in sync.

The companions groaned, they had just gone over this. It was their choice and they wasted time reminding their obstinate Doctors of that fact.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(Mickey takes back the phone.)  
MICKEY: We're in.

Everyone was grateful that Mickey had interrupted that uncomfortable moment, and that he had progressed in his part of the plan.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(The screen changes from a map of the world to an oscilloscope reading, with sound.)  
MICKEY: What is it?

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying.

River and Mel were trying to figure out what it was saying as well, but it was too fast for them to understand and just gave them a headache.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: He'll have to answer me one day.  
MICKEY: Hush!

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: It's some sort of message.  
ROSE: What's it say?  
DOCTOR: Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating.

River's eyes widened in realization that was why she couldn't understand it. The transmission was a loop!

(Mickey's doorbell rings.)  
DOCTOR: Hush!

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: That's not me. Go and see who that is.  
JACKIE: It's three o'clock in the morning.  
MICKEY: Well, go and tell them that.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: It's beaming out into space, who's it for?

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: All right!  
(Jackie opens the front door.)  
STRICKLAND: Mrs. Tyler.  
(She slams it shut again and runs back to Mickey.)  
JACKIE: It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!  
MICKEY: They've found us.

Even though she knew her mother would get out of this okay, Rose was on the edge of her seat, biting her nails.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Mickey, I need that signal.  
ROSE: Never mind the signal, get out! Mum,

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(Mickey grabs a handy baseball bat.)  
ROSE [OC]: Just get out! Get out!  
MICKEY: We can't. It's by the front door.  
(Outside, it starts to unzip its body suit.)  
MICKEY: Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us.

At this point, everyone had forgotten that they were watching past events and were on the edge of their seats, watching with bated breath.

Mickey looked around the room, touched that they cared about him that much.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

HARRIET: There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!  
DOCTOR: I'm trying!

The atmosphere was so thick with worry and anxiousness that you could have cut it with a butter knife.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back.

Rose, once again, thanked her former boyfriend for protecting her mum.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

MICKEY [OC]: Just run.  
(Sounds of the front door splintering.)  
ROSE: That's my mother.  
DOCTOR: Right, if we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!  
ROSE: They're green.  
DOCTOR: Yep, narrows it down.  
ROSE: Good sense of smell.  
DOCTOR: Narrows it down.  
ROSE: They can smell adrenalin.  
DOCTOR: Narrows it down.  
HARRIET: The pig technology.  
DOCTOR: Narrows it down.  
ROSE: The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?  
DOCTOR: Narrows it down.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: It's getting in!

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ROSE: They hunt like it's a ritual.  
DOCTOR: Narrows it down.  
HARRIET: Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er  
ROSE: Bad breath!  
HARRIET: That's it!  
DOCTOR: Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!  
ROSE: We're getting there, Mum!

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: Too late!

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!

River turned to her husband, "After this, we're going to brush up on your knowledge of planets and their inhabitants."

Eleven huffed, that was going to take forever, but agreed reluctantly.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter.  
(The front door finally falls apart.)

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Get into the kitchen!

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(They do, and try to barricade the door.)  
JACKIE: My God, it's going to rip us apart!

Rose was biting her lip with almost enough pressure to draw blood.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!  
HARRIET: Just like Hannibal!  
DOCTOR: Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: How should I know?

Martha rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly. _He never changes does he?_ She thought, remembering all the times she had to go and find something for her husband and it was right in front of his face the entire time.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: It's your kitchen.  
ROSE: Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

(Jackie takes the phone.)  
JACKIE: Oh, give it here. What do you need?  
DOCTOR [OC]: Anything with vinegar!  
(Jackie grabs a large jug and starts pouring stuff in.)  
JACKIE: Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: And you kiss this man?

Everyone laughed, even Martha, though she was trying to hold in her laughter. Mickey blushed in embarrassment. He hadn't heard that the first time, since he was busy trying to stay alive.

(The Slitheen breaks in. Jackie throws the vile contents of the jug over it. It stops, farts, then explodes, redecorating the kitchen in green innards.)

The companions all grimaced in disgust.

The Doctors and Mel grimaced for another reason. They hated seeing any life being extinguished, even someone as horrible as the Slitheen.

ROSE: Hannibal?  
HARRIET: Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar.  
ROSE: Oh. Well, there you go then.  
(They all toast the moment with a glass of port from the decanter.)

 **[Entrance lobby]**

ASQUITH: He's dead. Sip Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen is dead.  
GREEN: I felt it. How could that happen?

Even though the Slitheen were trying to destroy the Earth, Mel couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They had just lost a family member, after all, and she knew what that felt like. She hated it every time Winter died protecting someone, and her baby sister came back to life afterwards, just younger.

ASQUITH: Somebody must have got lucky.  
GREEN: That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have.

 **[Downing Street]**

(Green and Asquith go outside to make the promised broadcast.)  
GREEN: Ladies and gentlemen, nations of the world, humankind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered in the common cause, but the news I bring you now is grave indeed.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

GREEN [on TV]: The experts are dead, murdered right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace.  
MICKEY: Listen to this.  
(He holds the phone in front of the television.)  
GREEN [on TV]: Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads

 **[Downing Street]**

GREEN: And they have found massive weapons of destruction

 **[Cabinet Room]**

GREEN [OC]: Capable of being deployed within forty five seconds.  
DOCTOR: What?

 **[Downing Street]**

GREEN: Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

GREEN [OC]: We are facing extinction, unless we strike first.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

GREEN [OC]: The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship.

 **[Downing Street]**

GREEN: I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the

 **[Cabinet Room]**

GREEN [OC]: Heart of the beast is our only chance of survival

 **[Downing Street]**

GREEN: Because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war.

Sometimes, River hated being right.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it.  
HARRIET: Do you think they'll believe him?  
ROSE: They did last time.  
DOCTOR: That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out.  
ROSE: They release the defense code  
DOCTOR: And the Slitheen go nuclear.  
HARRIET: But why?  
(The Doctor opens the metal shutters.)  
DOCTOR: You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked.  
MARGARET: And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away.

Mel sneered in disgust at how casually the woman could talk about nuking an entire planet filled with life.

HARRIET: But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?  
DOCTOR: Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert.  
MARGARET: The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel.  
DOCTOR: At the cost of five billion lives.  
MARGARET: Bargain.

Everyone became royally pissed when she called killing over five billion people a "bargain."

DOCTOR: I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you.  
MARGARET: What, you? Trapped in your box?  
DOCTOR: Yes. Me.  
(The Doctor closes the shutters on Margaret's laughing face, and she starts to worry.)

The Doctor was quite satisfied to see the scared look on Margaret's face, he hadn't gotten to see it the first time.

 **[Westminster Bridge]**

(Next morning.)  
HITCHINSON: Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home, just waiting, as the future is decided in New York.

 **[Outside the UN]**

WOMAN [OC]: It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

WOMAN [on TV]: The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes, and once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins.

The Doctors winced at the mention of an interplanetary war, it was a bit too close to how the Time War could be described.

 **[Entrance lobby]**

GREEN: Sergeant. We'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain your positions. Good luck.

 **[PM's office]**

MARGARET: Oh, look at that. The telephone is actually red.  
(Green farts as he sits down.)  
GREEN: How long till they phone?  
ASQUITH: Counting down.  
(There is a handful of Smarties by the phone.)

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

HARRIET: If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid.  
ROSE: Mickey, any luck?  
MICKEY: There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail.  
HARRIET: Voicemail dooms us all.  
ROSE: If we could just get out of here.  
DOCTOR: There's a way out.  
ROSE: What?  
DOCTOR: There's always been a way out.

The companions shared a confused look. If there was a way out, why hadn't he used it yet?

ROSE: Then why don't we use it?  
DOCTOR: Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe.

Of course, the Doctor would never willingly put one of them in danger, even if it was the only way to save the day.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you?

 **[Cabinet Room]**

JACKIE [OC]: Dare.  
DOCTOR: That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies.  
ROSE: Do it.  
DOCTOR: You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?  
ROSE: Yeah.

A chorus of agreement rang throughout the room. Instead of being touched like the companions expected, the Doctors grimaced. They never wanted their companions to trust them so much that they would be willing to give their lives for him.

JACKIE [OC]: Please

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.  
ROSE: Then what're you waiting for?  
DOCTOR: I could save the world but lose you.

Rose took Nine and Ten's hands in her own and gave them a little squeeze of reassurance.

HARRIET: Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: And who the hell are you?

 **[Cabinet Room]**

HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it.

 **[PM's office]**

GREEN: Victory should be naked!

Before Jack could even open his mouth to comment, he was hit from all sides by feathered missiles.

Mel stifled a giggle at the pleased look on the Captain's face. He did, after all, look quite comfortable in the mountain of pillows surrounding him.

(Green, Margaret and Asquith unzip their body suits.)

 **[Cabinet Room]**

ROSE: How do we get out?  
DOCTOR: We don't. We stay here.  
(The Doctor gets the Emergency Protocols from the Red Box.)

 **[US TV Studio]**

WOMAN: The Council is voting. The results should be known any second now.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: What're you doing?  
MICKEY: Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth.  
DOCTOR [OC]: Right, we need to select a missile.  
MICKEY: We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

DOCTOR [OC]: What's the first category?  
MICKEY: Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: That's the one. Select.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

JACKIE: I could stop you.  
MICKEY: Do it, then.  
DOCTOR [OC]: You ready for this?  
MICKEY: Yeah.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

DOCTOR: Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands.

Everyone waited in baited breath.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

DOCTOR [OC]: Fire.  
(Mouse click. Big Whoosh as a missile launches from below the sea and heads for its target.)  
JACKIE: Oh, my God.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

HARRIET: How solid are these?  
DOCTOR: Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big.  
ROSE: All right, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on.

"Good job, Rosie," Jack commended, "Taking charge like that."

(Harriet does, as the missile heads up the Channel.)

 **[US TV studio]**

WOMAN: The vote is in. The Council says yes. They are releasing the codes.

 **[PM's office]**

(All the Slitheen family are gathered.)  
GREEN: Ring, damn you.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: It's on radar.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

(Rose and Harriet are emptying the cupboard.)  
MICKEY [OC]: Counter defense five five six.  
DOCTOR: Stop them intercepting it.

 **[Mickey's flat]**

MICKEY: I'm doing it now.  
DOCTOR [OC]: Good boy.

 **[Cabinet Room]**

MICKEY [OC]: Five five six neutralized.  
(The Doctor unplugs the phone as the missile heads inland over Seven Sisters.)

 **[Security office]**

PRICE: What do you mean, incoming?  
(A man points at the graphic on his computer screen.)

 **[Entrance hall]**

(Price sets off a fire alarm.)  
PRICE: Everybody out now! Now!  
(He runs up the stairs.)

 **[PM's office]**

GREEN: What the hell is that for?  
(Sergeant Price bursts in.)  
PRICE: Sir, there's a missile!  
(And sees the Slitheen.)  
PRICE: Sorry.  
(He runs away. The missile approaches the Thames from the south. Jackie watches it pass from Mickey's balcony. Meanwhile, the Slitheen squabble over the body suits.)  
SLITHEEN 1: That's mine! You've got mine!  
SLITHEEN 2: Disguise me! Disguise me!  
SLITHEEN 3: You're the blonde. I want the other one.  
SLITHEEN 1: Take it off!

Mel couldn't help but grimace. They were all going to die fighting over the skins of dead humans.

 **[Downing Street]**

(Price fires a shot into the air as his men and the remains of the Downing Street staff run out of the building.)  
PRICE: Everybody run!  
(The missile begins its descent.)

 **[Cabinet Room cupboard]**

HARRIET: Here we go. Nice knowing you both. Hannibal!

 **[PM's office]**

SLITHEEN: Oh, boll  
(KaBOOM! The iconic front door blows off in a fireball. The cupboard shakes then rolls through the remains of the building inside its steel shell.)

 **[Downing Street]**

(The Doctor pushes the steel door off and Harriet steps out.)

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when they see that their friends are okay.

HARRIET: Made in Britain.  
PRICE: Oh, my God. Are you all right?  
HARRIET: Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news.  
PRICE: Yes, ma'am.  
HARRIET: Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister.  
DOCTOR: Maybe you should have a go.  
HARRIET: Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher.  
ROSE: I'd vote for you.  
HARRIET: Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!  
(Harriet make her way down the pile of rubble.)  
HARRIET: We're safe! The Earth is safe!

 **[Whitehall]**

HARRIET: Sergeant!  
DOCTOR: I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age.

Mel smirks, remembering what Ten would do to stop everything Nine was saying from happening.

HARRIET: The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

(Jackie embraces Rose as the Doctor returns to the Tardis. A little later -)  
HARRIET [on TV]: Mankind stands tall, proud  
JACKIE: Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there. My daughter saved the world!  
ROSE: I think the Doctor helped a bit.  
JACKIE: All right, then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods.  
ROSE: That's not the way he does things. No fuss. He just moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance.  
JACKIE: He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that.

"She complimented me!" Ten said over-exaggerating his excitement completely.

Everyone rolled their eyes at the ecstatic time lord.

ROSE: Oh, now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about him.  
JACKIE: Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated.  
ROSE: I'm not infatuated.  
JACKIE: What does he eat?  
ROSE: How do you mean?  
JACKIE: I was going to do shepherd's pie. All of us. A proper sit down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things.

That got a few strange looks. What kind of alien did she think he was eating safety pins?

ROSE: He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?  
JACKIE: What's wrong with that?  
ROSE: He's finally met his match.  
JACKIE: You're not too old for a slap, you know. You can go and visit your Gran tomorrow. You'd better learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing.  
(Rose answers her phone. The caller ID says Tardis calling.)  
ROSE: Hello?

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: You've got a phone?  
DOCTOR [OC]: You think I can travel

 **[Tardis]**

(The Doctor is speaking into a 1970s Trim phone!)  
DOCTOR: Through space and time and I haven't got a phone? Like I said, couple of hours. I've just got to send out this dispersal. There you go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: Er, my mother's cooking.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer.

Mel stifled a snort.

ROSE [OC]: She's cooking tea. For us.  
DOCTOR: I don't do that.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: She wants to get to know you.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Tough. I've got better things to do.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: It's just tea.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Not to me it isn't.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: She's my mother.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Well, she's not mine.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

ROSE: That's not fair.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Well, you can stay there if you want, but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

DOCTOR [OC]: Fires are burning ten million miles wide.

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

DOCTOR [OC]: Hurtle right across the sky and end up

 **[Tardis]**

DOCTOR: Anywhere. Your choice.

Everyone was silently pleading with the blonde to go with him, so that they could see more of their adventures.

 **[The Tyler's flat]**

JACKIE: Rose, I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink?  
(Rose is in her bedroom, packing a rucksack.)  
JACKIE: I was wondering whether he drinks or not.  
ROSE: Yeah, he does.  
JACKIE: Don't go, sweetheart. Please don't go.

And just like that, everyone felt terrible for wanting Rose to leave her mother.

 **[Powell Estate]**

(Mickey is sitting on a rubbish bin reading the newspaper while the young boy is finishing cleaning off the Bad Wolf tag.)  
DOCTOR: Good lad. Graffiti that again and I'll have you. Now, beat it.

Mel smiled a bit sadly at seeing the Doctor interact with the child. She knew why he was so good with kids. It was because he had been a father himself once, and now he wasn't.

(The boy runs off with his bucket and scrubbing brush.)  
MICKEY: I just went down the shop, and I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is.  
(The Evening Standard headline is - Alien Hoax.)  
MICKEY: How could they do that? They saw it.  
DOCTOR: They're just not ready. You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face, nope, can't see it. There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick.  
MICKEY: We're just idiots.  
DOCTOR: Well, not all of you.

"Aw, you do like me, boss!" Mickey said teasingly.

MICKEY: Yeah?  
DOCTOR: Present for you, Mickey.  
(He gives Mickey a CD.)  
DOCTOR: That's a virus. Put it online. It'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist.  
MICKEY: What do you want to do that for?  
DOCTOR: Because you're right, I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me.  
(Jackie and Rose come out of the block.)  
MICKEY: How can you say that and then take her with you?  
DOCTOR: You could look after her. Come with us.

Rose's eyes widened in surprise. She looked over at Mickey a question in her eyes.

He just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

MICKEY: I can't. This life of yours, it's just too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell her I said that.  
JACKIE: I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will.  
ROSE: I'm not leaving because of you. I'm travelling, that's all, and then I'll come back.  
JACKIE: But it's not safe.  
ROSE: Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home.  
DOCTOR: Got enough stuff?  
ROSE: Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me.  
(Rose gives the Doctor her rucksack and goes to Mickey.)  
ROSE: Come with us. There's plenty of room.  
DOCTOR: No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board.

Rose realized what had just happened, and glared at Ten and Mickey, but there was no heat to it, only a bit of mirth.

ROSE: We'd be dead without him.  
DOCTOR: My decision is final.  
ROSE: Sorry.  
(Rose and Mickey kiss goodbye.)  
MICKEY: Good luck, yeah.  
JACKIE: You still can't promise me. What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?  
ROSE: Mum, you're forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe, and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?

Everyone laughed at the prospect of the Doctor actually getting her back in ten seconds with his poor driving skills.

The Doctor went to protest, but stopped and realized they were right.

(Jackie and Rose hug, then Rose follows the Doctor into the Tardis. Mickey gives a little wave. The Tardis dematerializes. Jackie looks at her watch.)  
JACKIE: Ten seconds.  
(Jackie goes back to the flats. Mickey carries on reading the newspaper.)

It was a few minutes of silence before the door creaked open, revealing Winter and the Physician. They were holding hands, and seemed to be communicating silently. Once they got to their pillow seats, Winter turned and looked at the screen. "Oh, you've finished." She said, "Okay so that was episode five titled World War Three. Since you finished, we will be taking a small break to go to the bathroom and refill your snacks. As soon as you get back, I will answer any questions you may have for me. I will see you later, bye." She pulled the Physician out of the room with her.

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Once again, thank you so much for the favorites, the follows, and the comments. If you have any questions pertaining to my characters, leave a comment and I will answer it in the next chapter. I will see you later, bye!**_


End file.
